


Lord Death (also known as Danny Fenton and the unplanned sabbatical to magical Britain)

by Dr_WD_Gaster



Category: Danny Phantom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Angst, Cruciatus, Cutesy friendship between Severus and Danny but nothing romantic, Danny's ghost form is weird, Death Magic, Gen, I Don't Even Know, I Have No Control Anymore, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I give up, I just can't find it, My First Work in This Fandom, Really like can u even pay attention dear old snake face, Save me from the bunnies, Snake face?, So much angst, There's A Tag For That, This plot bunny escaped and wrote this angsty piece of crap, Torture, Voldemort is oblivious af when it comes to his oh so loyal followers, but hey, if that's even a thing, some humor i guess, who cares?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-05-30 02:01:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15086603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dr_WD_Gaster/pseuds/Dr_WD_Gaster
Summary: Danny never expected that his sabbatical would take place in Britain. Least of all magical Britain in an alternate universe. But it did, and he damn well made the best of it.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Well, hi there. I don't know if I'll get in trouble with article 13, and was like ahh fuck it. I'll post one more half-assed fanfic.

He landed on the cold ground of the forest floor with an undignified oomph. Contrary to what most books and tv shows portray, earth is not soft and will make whatever you landed on hurt like hell. Danny slowly picked himself up from the pile of dead leaves with a groan and dusted off his cotton shirt and jeans. He squinted at the light filtering through the foliage above, and let his eyes roam around his drop site. 

He sighed as he quickly realised that he had no clue where he was. 

This was not what he had in mind when Sam suggested he’d take a sabbatical. 

It was quite funny actually, thinking about it. Sam, and to a lesser extent his entire family, had bullied him into taking a sabbatical after he’d graduated. She’d said something along the lines of: “Don’t worry. Relax for once. You worked your butt off the entire year, and you deserve some peace and rest.” Promptly shoved a backpack filled with essentials in his hands and pushed him into the Ghost Zone, while locking the doors behind him. 

Which forced him to pound angrily at the door, or find Vlad’s portal and go the long way back. He’d chosen to go to Vlad’s mostly because he hadn’t seen the man in a while and wanted to have a chat with him. (He’d grown on the man since the Dark Dan incident.) 

Alas, halfway through a natural portal had sprung up in front of him, made of psychotic swirls of purple and black, sucked him in and deposited him on the forest floor. 

So, there he was. In a forest in the middle of fucking nowhere with nothing but a bag and his clothes to his name. 

Yeah, thanks a lot, Sam.

He sighed again as he looked up at the sun, or the sunset, as it was dangerously close to nightfall. Danny ran a hand through his hair and located the highest tree with the thickest branch. If Katniss could do it, so could he. After a quick look around, he flew up the tree and found an excellent spot to rest his eyes, and his still sore-from-falling body. 

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

Danny woke with a start the next morning as an arrow whizzed past his head, and embedded itself into the tree next to his right ear. He had to levitate a bit, to keep himself from falling, and glared at the person on the ground. 

He rubbed his eyes and shook his head, but when he looked again, the person holding the bow still had the body of a horse with the torso of a man.

“My humble apology for the rude awakening, my Lord, but I could not find a better way to gain your attention.” The centaur said as he slung the bow over his head and onto his shoulder while holding up his hands in a peaceful gesture. 

Danny remained silent for a while, hoping he wasn’t under the influence of hallucinogens and stared questioningly at the archer.

The centaur seemed to understand that further explanation would be needed if Danny were to come down, so he spoke again.

“I understand your hesitation, my Lord. My name is Firenze, and I welcome you to our humble forest. We centaurs have been preparing for your arrival since the stars told us you were coming. We mean you no harm, and if you come down, Bane will explain everything.” He added the last part with a wry smile as if he wasn’t happy with Bane explaining at all.

Danny, having seen his fair share of weirdness and knowing a Greek deity, did not hesitate to believe that the being before him was a centaur. What threw him for a loop was the whole “my Lord” thing. Sure, he was a Lord in many ways. (Technically speaking he was High King of all Ghost after defeating Pariah Dark, but he chose to let the Ghost Council do the actual ruling, and he was only summoned for peace treaties and ribbon cutting.) The problem, however, was how Firenze knew.

With a grace that he didn’t always possess, Danny swung his legs over the edge of his branch and casually jumped down. Slowing down his fall he levitated the last meter and softly landed on the damp earth.

Firenze, not at all fazed by the display of flight, turned around and began walking his way towards the herd with Danny in tow behind him.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

“Honestly, my Lord. This was the best display of power we’ve seen you do since your arrival.” Firenze encouragingly said as Danny split into four copies of himself.

Danny lost all concentration at that point, and two of the duplicates snapped together, and only three Danny’s remained.

“Firenze, I told you before, this is nothing compared to what I can do in my other form,” Danny whined with a little pout on his face.

The centaur in question just shrugged as he walked away. “You wanted to see how your powers in “human” form held up. Not me. You don’t get to whine about your “true” form if you don’t want to show it to me.”

Danny huffed at his statement as he jogged to catch up. “I’m not going to show it to you, Firenze. Not after what happened to poor Bane. I don’t want to see you reduced to that.

Firenze just rolled his eyes and stopped at the edge of the forest. Peeking through the trees was the magnificent view of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

“I assure that you will be in good hands, my Lord. Albus Dumbledore has my complete faith and trust.” The centaur said to his friend as they took in the sight before them.

Danny let out a light chuckle. “If he’s going to treat me with half the courtesy you’ve done, it would still be abundant.”

“Let’s head back, my Lord. You need to be well rested for tomorrow.”

“That just proved my point.”

Firenze just sighed.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

In a month, a lot had changed in the life of Danny Fenton.

He’d been forcibly sent on sabbatical by his friend, by being pushed into the Ghost Zone. Had ended up in a forest with no clue as to where he was. Then awoke the next day with an arrow next to his head, and kindly asked to come down his sleeping tree by a centaur. Taken to the herd of said centaur, while burning with questions. Before promptly being told that he was in an alternate universe, where magic existed.

Oh, how could he forget the biggest shocker of all? In this universe, for some reason or another, his ghost form had changed into a giant seven foot tall black cloaked skeleton that wielded a scythe. Also known as Lord Death.

There were also a few minor things. Like a subtle change in the way his ghost powers worked or were it Death powers now?

The bright green beams of light he could shoot from his hands, fingertips, eyes, and sometimes his ass turned out to be curses here. The killing curse, to be specific. Which, as the name might suggest, had the power to kill on impact. Something that made him profoundly uncomfortable at times.

His ice powers, to his disdain, had also changed in a way he wasn’t entirely comfortable with. Instead of manifesting as an ice blast or solid ice swords, it made everybody around him feel cold and miserable while experiencing their worst memories. He hadn’t the guts to test out his other supposed skill of sucking out someone’s soul for nourishment, as he was not going to kill anything. Not even the goddamned squirrels that weren’t sure to be afraid or angry with him. As they alternated between running on sight or banding together to throw acorns at him.

His other powers were still pretty much the same, with the odd tweak to his ability to overshadow people, as they could not throw him out of their bodies, no matter how hard they tried.

He’d also had the unfortunate experience upon showing Bane his new Death form, that the centaur had fainted and never dared to speak to him again. Too cowed by the presence of Death that he could not bring himself be in the same space as him.

That was the preset to the rule of nobody being allowed to seeing his “true” form.

As he was on a sabbatical, he could afford to stay with the centaurs for a while. Listening to their stories and learning about this new magical world he’d been introduced to. He’d been sceptic about the herd’s power of reading the stars, but they’d seen him coming which was more than he could say for himself.

But after a month with him none the wiser in the prospect of getting back to his own universe, he’d asked if they knew someone who could help. The answer was the Headmaster of the very convenient magic school just outside the forest.

Whom he was meeting tomorrow.

Hence the good nights' rest.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

Danny couldn’t help but think that Albus Dumbledore looked like Clockwork, in his eldest form, but with a much more extravagant clothing style. They had the same odd twinkle in their eyes when something sparked their interest, and a similar enigmatic, powerful, yet grandfatherly vibe coming from them.

“Firenze, my old friend. How curious I was to receive a summons from you. Is there something the matter?” He had his hand clasped behind his back, and his long beard tucked in his belt.

“Greetings Headmaster, I have summoned you here today, because a friend of mine needs help. You see, about three months ago Jupiter was very bright, and our entire herd had a shared vision about a man, who did not know anything of this world and would need our help to guide him. This has only happened once before in our history. A shared vision means that the traveller depicted is from another universe.” The centaur stopped to assess if Dumbledore believed him. The Headmaster just avidly nodded his head and motioned for Firenze to continue. Something that Danny, who was still hiding in the shadows, found very amusing. Who but the Headmaster of a magic school would believe the shared visions of a centaur.

“Our friend has stayed with us for the past month, and we educated him in the ways of magic. I will leave it up to him to explain the rest.” Firenze stepped back, and Danny stepped out from behind a rock formation.

Dumbledore was apparently surprised that Danny was human, or at least looked human, as his grey bushy eyebrows reached up to his hairline.

Danny ignored the Headmaster’s reaction and stuck out his hand. “Daniel Fenton, at your service.”

Dumbledore’s eyes began to twinkle like mad, and he shook Danny’s hand with a firm grip of his own. “Pleased to meet you, Mr Fenton. My name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. I have many titles that won’t mean a thing to you, but if you’re going to stay at my school for a while, professor, headmaster or Albus will suffice.”

Danny laughed as he released his hand, and confidently stood before the old wizard. “As you can see, I’ve worked myself into quite the predicament. I have no reason to hurry home, as I’ve taken a sabbatical and my friends and family won’t be worried about me. But I do intend to get home someday, preferably sooner than later. I immensely enjoyed my stay with the herd, but they only know so much about interdimensional travel. I was hoping that your school library and your personal experience could help me out some more.”

Albus seemed to run the idea through his head and nodded along in understanding. He looked up at the castle before turning his attention back to Danny.

“Tell me, my boy. Can you see Hogwarts? Or do only see ruins?” Contemplation lacing his words.

“Of course I can see the castle. You can’t miss it, it’s quite the eyecatcher.”

Albus let out a laugh and gestured at his school. “I was only wondering if you’re magical enough to see Hogwarts. It’s charmed so that non-magicals can only see ruins, and have the strong urge to leave.”

Danny let a sheepish smile take over his features as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh, that makes sense.”

“Why don’t we go up to the castle to see if you can wield a wand. After that, we can arrange what to do.”

Danny turned his attention to his centaur friend. He bowed low, as was customary for an elder, but wasn’t surprised to find Firenze doing the same.

“I will come and see you and the herd as often as possible, okay? It was wonderful staying with you, and I thank you again for your hospitality.”

Firenze just smiled as he answered. “Thank you, my friend, for making our lives more interesting, and having the privilege of hosting you.” He took a step closer and placed a warm hand on Danny’s shoulder before ruffling the younger’s hair and quickly galloping away from the treeline.

“Well, I’ve never seen Firenze bow like an equal to anyone. Not even Bane. You must have left quite the impression on him,” Albus’ said as he guided the 19-year-old towards the school grounds.

Danny laughed, a warm, welcoming sound. “What can I say, I just have that effect on people.”


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**   
  
All the way up to the castle, Danny marveled at the view. Hogwarts stood tall and impressive as she loomed over the grounds below her. It was indeed a sight to behold. Danny thought that it must look even better at night, with all the twinkling lights dancing across the old, well-worn stone.   
  
Dumbledore noticed the awe of the young man beside him and deliberately took the longer more scenic route to the entrance gate.   
  
“How old are you, if I may ask?” He opened the wrought iron gates with a wave of his hand.   
  
“I just turned 19 this summer.”   
  
Albus let out a low hum. Danny picked up on it and looked at the Headmaster.   
  
“That isn’t a problem isn’t it?” He asked, somewhat worried now.   
  
Albus shook his head and pushed open the large wooden double doors. “No, not necessarily. If you don’t turn out to have an affinity to magic with a wand, it’s no problem at all. If you do, then we might have some trouble. Here at Hogwarts, we start teaching the children at age 11 till age 17. Which means that we could put you with the seventh years, but you do look quite a bit older. We would also have to notify the Ministry of Magic to your arrival and acceptance as a student, which complicates your cover story. As you have no prior existence in this universe.”   
  
Danny nodded. This was going to be harder than he first thought.   
  
“If it’s too much trouble, I’ll go searching on my own. I don’t want to impose or anything.” He said softly as they made their way up the moving staircases.   
  
“Don’t be silly; help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it,” Dumbledore announced as they continued their journey upwards. At this point, Danny was beginning to see why the old wizard was still so fit. These damned stairs were a good cardio workout.   
  
As they rounded a corner in the hallways after the third flight of stairs, they halted in front of a menacing stone gargoyle. Who upon seeing Dumbledore, stepped aside with a gravelly “Good day, Headmaster.”   
  
Danny wondered why Dumbledore had stopped moving for a second, before the stairs under him began to move on their own accord, much like a stone escalator.   
  
Albus stepped into his office with fluidity and grace, unlike Danny who was too busy looking at everything with awe and wonder to notice where he planted his feet and stumbled towards the large wooden desk.   
  
He let the younger man stare for a while, before clearing his throat and gesturing towards the chair. Danny sat down with another sheepish smile on his face but turned his attention to the Headmaster.   
  
“I must admit, that I don’t have the greatest collection of wands at my disposal, but we only need to see if you are able to wield a wand.” He rummaged through one of his desk drawers and picked up a sleek dark brown wooden stick, and placed it before Danny.   
  
Danny looked at it with uncertainty but grabbed hold of it nonetheless.   
  
Dumbledore smiled at him encouragingly. “A small wave will do.”   
  
Danny held his breath and gave the wand a quick little twirl. At first, nothing happened, which made a sad smile appear on Danny’s face. Then as if possessed, the wand began to vibrate violently and shot out a few toxic green sparks before turning utterly still and cold in his hands.   
  
Dumbledore gently took the wand away from the shell-shocked Danny and muttered a quiet Lumos, but nothing happened.   
  
“It seems, my boy, that we should keep wands far away from you. I have never seen a wand react like that before.” The elder wizard laid down the wand next to a series of silver trinkets.   
  
“What did I do to it?” Danny asked with thinly veiled distrust.   
  
“I think you managed to kill it,” Dumbledore said with a mildly severe look on his face, the twinkle in his eyes diminishing.   
  
“Excuse me?”

“The wand core, and it’s wood simultaneously died. Turning it into a useless stick.”   
  
Danny owlishly blinked at Dumbledore before looking back at the wand. He cast his eyes down to his hands with barely concealed horror and slowly answered. “I’m so sorry; I didn’t mean to do that.”   
  
“I don’t think you did it on purpose, but it’ll be for the best if you didn’t go near any wands in the future,” Albus responded in a much lighter tone. Realising that Danny really hadn’t done it on purpose, and felt extremely bad about it.   
  
“Duly noted.”   
  
“Now that our little wand mystery is solved, we need to find something for you to do during your stay here. We would provide free room and board, but we need a solid alibi if the Ministry finds out about your presence here at school.”   
  
Danny perked up at the change in subject and latched onto it with gratitude. “I wouldn’t mind working for my stay. In fact, I would feel bad if I just sat around and did research all day.”   
  
Albus hummed to himself, letting his blue eyes roam around his office. “Do you have any special talents?” Danny’s eyes grew wide, but Albus didn’t notice. “Like a green thumb? Along those lines?”   
  
Danny racked his mind for a few minutes. What was he good at? Ghost hunting, but he doubted Albus meant that. He was a semi-decent mechanic, from watching his parents’ blueprints and inventions and having tinkered on a few of them himself.   
  
“I can cook,” Danny responded lamely.   
  
By the way, Dumbledore’s eyes lit up; cooking was a good thing. “Are you perhaps also good at chemistry?”   
  
Danny smiled brightly at the mention of chemistry. He’d gotten a solid A- for his final. So, he nodded his head.   
  
“Brilliant, I’ll get Severus to make some preparations, and we’ll see how you fare with Potions.”   
  
“Sure, but what’s a Severus?”   
  
.o0o.o0o.o0o.   
  
Severus Snape was not a happy man. He wasn’t by nature, and hadn’t a reason to be happy today, so his mood only soured as he received a summons from Dumbledore. Couldn’t the old man appreciate his need for a work-free summer? He worked his arse off all year long and even stayed at school for Yule. Add in a Dark Lord whose schedule was as erratic as it was nerve-wracking. Of course, the Order needed him to report every so often, which caused him to be swept away from his well-deserved tea with whiskey. All in all, Snape was busy and hating it.

  
As he looked at the paper, his brooding turned into confusion. Why would he need to help with someone trying to brew a first-year potion? He snapped his cloak around his ankles as he exited his personal chambers and into one of the empty Potions labs, that some students used over Yule and Easter.   
  
He did not expect the Headmaster to beat him there, but sure enough there he was, talking to some lanky unknown man. Severus needed to do a double take to assure himself that it was not James Potter standing there. From the side, the resemblance was uncanny, from his messy hair down to his confident posture. But as soon as the stranger turned to look at him, with china-blue eyes that held a newfound curiosity, the spell was broken.   
  
He respectfully inclined his head towards Albus and came to a halt in front of the stranger.   
  
Danny plastered a big smile on his face and held out a hand. “Daniel Fenton. Nice to meet you.”   
  
Severus noted that the boy was extremely pale, and his hands were thin and spidery, but he still shook his hand. He caught himself before he could let out a gasp, but the boy was _cold_ . Deathly cold.   
  
“Severus Snape.” He snapped as he quickly withdrew his hand, and warmed it in his robe pocket.   
  
The man let out a bark of laughter and shook his head in embarrassment. “I feel stupid now.” He admitted to Dumbledore, whose eyes were twinkling with mirth.   
  
“What.” Snape snapped again, as he opened the door to the Potions lab.   
  
“When Albus said we were going down, he mentioned getting you, but I didn’t know Severus was a name, so I asked what a Severus was.” He stayed silent for a while, trying to guess Snape’s reaction. “Now I feel stupid. Sorry.” He finished as he took in the lab.   
  
The dour man didn’t answer and looked at Dumbledore instead. “What do you want me to do here?”   
  
“Daniel here is an American squib who was visiting Britain because of his aunts funeral. His parents only recently revealed his magical nature, and he wanted to visit all the sights in Britain. He came to Hogwarts first asking if we needed any help, in exchange for room, board, and information. It has come to my attention over the years, that you might be a tad overworked. If Daniel is good with potions, maybe you’ll consider him as your assistant for the coming year?”   
  
Danny had to give it to Dumbledore, the man could lie through his teeth without making it sound suspicious. The story made sense too, as Albus had explained squibs on the way to the dungeons.   
  
Snape looked down his nose at Danny. Looking at the other man, like one would look at specimen to study. Something that made Danny highly uncomfortable, but he didn’t want to disappoint Albus already.   
  
“You will do exactly as I say. If the potion turns out well, you will intimately familiarise yourself with every object in this room, and read every book I tell you to read. Understood?” He asked with a questioning eyebrow, and a sneer on his lips.   
  
“Yes, sir. When do we start?” Danny said, eagerness taking over his features.   
  
“Now.”


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, y'all. It's been a while. Sorry for the long wait but I was on vacation, and I didn't have access to good enough wifi. So, here's chapter three, and everything that comes with it. Chapter 4 is in the making already so the wait should be shorter this time. Also, I might have said that Danny and Severus grow into a platonic relationship, but maybe that won't stay so platonic...yeah.

Chapter 3:

Severus couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose. His entire free time was going up in flames. A Dark Lord, the Order and now some brat that hadn’t seen a cauldron before in his life. 

He was sitting in his, office, taking a break from the Herbicide potions he’d been brewing. He sipped his tea, and was disgusted when he found it was cold. Damn, brat taking up all his time lately. To get rid of his near-constant questioning, he’d given the boy a stack of books, and pointed to a chair with the simple order of: “Read.” Of course, the brat didn’t latch on to the fact that it was a punishment.

As he stood in front of his kettle, having cleaned his cup with a swift _evanesco_ , he paled. He’d been so busy with everything that he’d forgotten to pay attention to his potion. He, the Potions Master, had forgotten to add the Horklump juice. He rushed to his lab so fast that he knocked down a chair, and made the parchment around him flutter from his desk to the floor.

The potions was a highly unstable one, and if he didn’t act now, it would cause an explosion to rock Hogwarts off its foundation.

He opened the door with a bang, startling his assistant, who almost dropped his book.

But his eyes weren’t on his apprentice, but the perfectly stable, perfectly coloured potion in the middle of the room.

His mind was working a mile a minute. He knew that he hadn’t added the Horklump juice. How was the potion still stable?

His eyes wandered over to his assistant, who had buried his nose back in his book, and was pointedly not looking at him.

“What did you do?” He snapped. Stalking towards the boy to tower over him.

“I added the Horklump juice sometime after you left,” Danny said meekly, trying to hide himself in the overly plush armchair.

Severus’ eyes bore into Danny’s cerulean orbs, not reading his thoughts but intimidating him nonetheless.

“And _why_ pray tell, did you do such a thing? And how did you know to add the juice?” 

The boy seemed to grow some backbone and sat up straighter. “You walked away and it didn’t look like you were coming back. I added it before it went volatile. As to how I know, why else would you have me reading all these books? I get that I need to know what I’m doing, so I’m not ready for the practical side of things, but I’ve read through them all at least twice.”

Severus mind came to a screeching halt. “Twice?” He asked, incredulous.

A furious red blush tainted Danny’s cheeks as he began to fiddle with the hem of his robes. “I’m a fast reader when I’m interested.” 

And all Severus could say was, “Hmm.” 

“Sir, I’ve seen how tired you’ve been these days. Going to meetings left and right must be exhausting.” He stopped as he saw the Potions Master’s stony face. “What I’m trying to say is. Please let me do my job. Let me be your assistant. Let me help.”

Danny could see that Severus had not been prepared for such an offer. He smiled softly as he closed his book and walked over to the cauldron in the centre of the room. “Could you show me the proper stirring technique, sir?”

Severus seemed to boot up again at a Potions related question and into mechanical teacher mode. Danny was nodding along all the while and copying the other’s motions.

As soon as Danny had the hang of it and Snape was about to leave the room he turned around. “You can call me, Severus.”

Danny just smirked and answered. “Daniel or brat will suffice.”

“Brat.” he huffed.

“That’s the spirit.”

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

Danny knew he could be a good student when he had the time to learn. He’d seen it first hand last year. After telling his parents about the whole Phantom situation, they’d taken a much more active role in ghost hunting. Together with Sam, Jazz and Tucker, they made a pretty good team that caused a huge workload to be taken off his shoulders. Giving him time to sleep and study. 

He hadn’t known that he would be absolutely _obsessed_ with Potions.

To him, potions were the closest thing to doing magic as he’d ever get. (Not counting his Death powers.) And it was the most amazing feeling ever when he managed to create something out of a few ingredients and some stirring.

He knew Severus would kill him for that statement, but Danny didn’t care.

Speaking of Severus, after 2 months of working in close proximity with one another, they’d grown into a weird pseudo-friendship. They respected each other and their abilities. (Danny thought that Severus was amazing when it came to tweaking recipes, and Severus thought that Danny was a prodigy for being able to do the entire Hogwarts curriculum in 2 months. To which Danny would reply that he’d only been busy with potions non stop with an amazing teacher, which would shut Severus up for a few minutes.) Liked the other’s company for the most part, and snarked their way through the heavier days. 

It was weird really, the man had done nothing to gain Danny’s trust. (Sneering and criticizing him constantly hadn’t done wonders.) But Danny couldn’t help but like Severus. He reminded him of a combination between Vlad, Lancer and Clockwork. He was a very good teacher, if you could look past his overshadowing demeanor. He made a mask for himself of anger, bitterness and the stereotypical dungeon bat. Yet deep down, Danny could see that Severus was lonely. That he needed someone. Danny hoped he could be that someone.

He shook his head, to rid himself of those memories, and focused on the present.

The Welcoming Feast.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

He shuddered when the ghosts came into the Great Hall after meeting the new students. His Ghost Sense, was going haywire with all these low powered ghosts around. 

It had been his second day in the castle when his Ghost Sense went off. He immediately stood on guard, and his hand stood alight with an unearthly flickering green flame. 

As he rounded the corner. He wasn’t prepared for the semi-translucent ghost that was looking at him with her eyebrows raised. 

The light in his hand died down when she didn’t immediately attack him. 

“Who are you?” She said, a shimmer of an echo in her voice.

“Danny Fenton, new Potions assistant.” 

He warily narrowed his eyes as she let out a quiet gasp.

“My dearest apologies, my Lord. I must commend you on your mortal disguise; it had me fooled for a moment.”

Danny facepalmed as he let out a withering sigh. “Are there more ghosts here at Hogwarts?” He asked, exasperated.

“Oh yes, there are the four House ghosts, myself, Helena Ravenclaw, the Friar, Sir Nicholas, and,” She scowled a little in disdain, “the Baron. We also have one member of staff, Professor Binns, and our resident poltergeist Peeves.”

Danny took a calming breath, these ghosts were just reacting to his ambient Death magic, something they couldn’t control. “Please, Lady Ravenclaw, could you mention to the other ghosts that while in this form, I wish to be called Daniel? Or whatever you call the professors and students? I don’t want to blow my cover.” He added with a small smile. 

She nodded her head enthusiastically, while letting a silver blush taint her cheeks. “Of course, Daniel. I shall inform the others as soon as possible. It has been a long time since someone other than the Baron has called me Lady Ravenclaw.” She confessed. 

“Don’t worry about it too much. It was a pleasure, Lady Ravenclaw.” Danny made a quick bow and went on with his business. Leaving a very flustered Grey Lady behind.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

He stood clothed in his navy blue wizard robes. He tugged at the fabric, still not used to the way they fell around his body. He felt extremely uncomfortable. It also didn’t help that because of his close contact with Severus, most of the teacher had dubbed him an outcast as well. He had met all of them briefly, and got along best with Minerva. (After Severus, of course.) The one that looked like a rail-thin gipsy, Sybill or something, had predicted his untimely death at least three times in a span of an hour. To which he had snorted as really he’d half died already, if you didn’t pick up on that, then what kind of fraud were you. Flitwick just squeaked whenever he came near, and after being told about his half-goblin nature, made a lot of sense. 

Truly, there was only one person he couldn’t stand. That horrible pink toad.

She’d come into her office a few days ago. Normally they would be introduced, and they would smile at him for still being interested enough in magic, even though he was a squib, to work at the school. But Dolores Umbridge had taken one look at him, in which he perfect lips were pursed, and declared him unworthy of her time. By simply walking away, not shaking Danny’s outstretched hand and leaving him to fume to Severus in the dungeons.

He watched quietly, next to Severus near the end of the table, as the first-years entered the Great Hall. All of them wearing tiny little robes and clutching tightly to their friends next to them. All having various expressions of awe and wonder on their faces, mixed with just the right amount of scared nervousness. 

As Albus had predicted, the four long house tables immediately quieted at the arrival of the new students. They all waited with bated breath as Minerva placed the Sorting Hat on its old stool before the line of first years.

_In times of old, when I was new,_  
And Hogwarts barely started,  
The founders of our noble school  
Thought never to be parted.

__

United by a common goal,  
They had the selfsame yearning  
To make the world's best magic school  
And pass along their learning.

"Together we will build and teach."  
The four good friends decided.  
And never did they dream that they  
Might some day be divided.

For were there such friends anywhere  
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?  
Unless it was the second pair  
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,

So how could it have gone so wrong?  
How could such friendships fail?  
Why, I was there, so I can tell  
The whole sad, sorry tale. 

Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those  
Whose ancestry's purest."  
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose  
Intelligence is surest."

Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those  
With brave deeds to their name."  
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot  
And treat them just the same."

These differences caused little strife  
When first they came to light.  
For each of the four founders had  
A house in which they might

Take only those they wanted, so,  
For instance, Slytherin  
Took only pure-blood wizards  
Of great cunning just like him.

And only those of sharpest mind  
Were taught by Ravenclaw  
While the bravest and the boldest  
Went to daring Gryffindor.

Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest  
and taught them all she knew,  
Thus, the houses and their founders  
Maintained friendships firm and true.

So Hogwarts worked in harmony  
For several happy years,  
But then discord crept among us  
Feeding on our faults and fears.

The Houses that, like pillars four  
Had once held up our school  
Now turned upon each other and  
Divided, sought to rule.

And for a while, it seemed the school  
Must meet an early end.  
What with duelling and with fighting  
And the clash of friend on friend.

And at last there came a morning  
When old Slytherin departed  
And though the fighting then died out  
He left us quite downhearted.

And never since the founders four  
Were whittled down to three  
Have the Houses been united  
As they once were meant to be.

And now the Sorting Hat is here  
And you all know the score:  
I sort you into Houses  
Because that is what I'm for.

But this year I'll go further,  
Listen closely to my song:  
Though condemned I am to split you  
Still I worry that it's wrong,

Though I must fulfil my duty  
And must quarter every year  
Still I wonder whether sorting  
May not bring the end I fear.

Oh, know the perils, read the signs,  
The warning history shows,  
For our Hogwarts is in danger  
From external, deadly foes.

_And we must unite inside her_  
Or we'll crumble from within  
I have told you, I have warned you...  
Let the Sorting now begin.

Danny blinked for a moment before turning to Severus. “I knew it was supposed to sing but did it ever give a warning like that?”

Severus was silent for a moment. “I haven’t heard it myself, but maybe Albus will have an explanation,” he said with a stiff jerk of his shoulders.

“I’ll ask him about it when I have the chance,” he muttered quietly. 

As he was part of Hogwarts staff, he had been Sorted by the hat. He knew he wouldn’t be back next year so saw no great loss in the Hat finding out his secret, but it had assured him that he wouldn’t tell a soul. He was very proud to be a Slytherin. Something Severus could agree upon. 

After bearing through the Sorting, and clapping loudly for every student, Danny turned his attention to Albus. 

“To our newcomers, welcome. To our old hands - welcome back! There is a time for speech-making but this is not it. Tuck in!”

Danny grinned as the food appeared before him, and began piling all kinds of things on his plate. Severus' lip pulled up in a sneer, and he looked at Danny’s plate as if it personally offended him.

“Why do you insist on tasting everything? Is one dish not enough?” he said. Scowling at everyone’s overflowing plates.

Danny let out a hearty laugh, that attracted the attention of some students. “I’m a growing boy, Severus. I need to eat if I want to be big and strong.” he ignored the scoff at the word “big”. He stood at a respectable 6 foot tall. Towering over most of the staff and students. “You should eat something too. Your arms are as thin as toothpicks.” he poked the other man in his bony shoulder to prove his point.

Minerva let a smirk play out on her thin lips, and snorted at Severus’ sour expression. “Daniel’s right, Severus. You are too thin. If you continue like this, I’ll mistake you for my wand some day.”

Danny discreetly held up a hand behind the Potions Master’s back and high-fived Minerva.

“May I remind you, Daniel, that your sole existence here at school is because you’re my assistant,” Severus said coyly. 

Danny put a good-natured hand on Severus’ shoulder. “Your threats are empty Severus. I know you like me.”

Severus only huffed a quiet, “Brat.” 

Danny just shook his head and started eating his food.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

“Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices. First-years ought to know that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students - and a few of our older students ought to know too by now. Mr Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four-hundred-and-sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr Filch’s office door.

“We have had three changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons. We are also delighted to introduce two new Professors this year. Professor Fenton, who will aid our Potions Master for the coming year, and Professor Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.”

Danny wholeheartedly agreed with the little applause Umbridge got. He couldn’t stand her either.

“Tryouts for the house Quidditch teams will take place on the -”

Danny being seated three seats away from Albus questioningly looked up at the sudden interruption. But then he heard a louder, “Hem, hem,” and he instinctively cringed as he recognised Umbridge voice. And without a word, Albus sat back down.

Next, to him, Severus had a dark, gloomy expression on his face, and Minerva’s lips had been drawn into a very thin line.

“Thank you, Headmaster, for those kind words of welcome.” Dolores’ voice had the odd quality of making everybody in a three-foot radius have a gag reflex, and Danny scowled at her sugary sweet tone.

“Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!”

“Is she delirious and blind? Honestly woman, look around you.” he darkly muttered to Severus, but Minerva nodded in agreement as well.

“I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I’m sure we’ll be very good friends!”

“Well, if she does as she did with the staff, she’ll remain alone forever.” he heard Pomona Sprout whisper to Filius Flitwick, at the end of the table. He let out a little snort that gained the attention of Severus. Curse superhuman hearing. 

“Sorry, private joke.”

When it became clear that Umbridge wasn’t going to stop anytime soon, he only listened with half and ear. Slightly taking offence at the jab to his supposed non-magical nature, and tuning out the rest of it. Clapping along with the rest of the teachers only because of the low powered stinging hex Severus threw his way. 

Albus stood up again, finalised his speech and dismissed the school.

Danny stood up and followed Severus to the dungeons, where both of their personal quarters were located. He didn’t go to his quarters, though. He followed Severus further along the hallway and into the Slytherin common room, where Severus would make his start-of-year speech to the first-years.

Danny chuckled as the newly sorted Slytherin snakelings were herded to the middle of the room. The dark green light making the shadows on the wall writhe and flicker. 

“The first rule of Slytherin House,” Severus boomed from the far corner of the room. “is that we stand united. Don’t think that life in Slytherin will be easy. You will be picked on by the other Houses. You mustn't show them weakness. We are Slytherins. Proud and cunning. In the halls we stand united, we solve our problems here in the Common Room, or with me in my office.” he stopped. Letting his message sink in before he continued, “Rule number 2, is that you can always come to me if you have a problem.” His voice was softer, now. More caring. “We all have our skeletons in the closet. You don’t have to show me yours, but you can always asks for help when you need it. Some of the upper years would do good to remember that too.” 

Danny could see that indeed some of the upper years were fiddling with the hems of their sleeves and were looking down in deep thought.

“That was all. Now, important notices and information are located on the board. Good night.”

He swished his cloak around and exited the Common Room, Danny hot on his heels.

“How many students will come for your aid tonight?” Danny said quietly as they made their way back to their chambers.

Severus frowned for a second. “I think around four each night of the first week.” 

Danny came to a halt mid-stride. “That’s a lot of kids, Severus. You think you’re up for it?” Concern lacing his words.

“I have no choice, Daniel.” he started walking again. “These children need someone they can trust. Better it be me, than someone else. And,” he said cheekily. “I have you to cover the first day for me tomorrow.” 

Danny let out an audible groan and placed his hand on the knob leading to his room and office. “If I keel over tomorrow, it’ll be your fault, Severus.”

Severus just laughed and turned to walk away but was stopped by a slender hand wrapping around his wrist. He looked up in surprise and found himself gazing into Danny’s cobalt eyes. “If you need someone to talk to, my door is always open.”

And then he was gone.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Danny was right, and Severus looked like death warmed over the next day at breakfast. He was glad for the chance to take over the man's lessons for the day. Severus would just sit somewhere in a dark corner of the room, observing and helping when that was necessary. He wondered silently, how Severus normally dealt with the first week.

Danny was slightly nervous about his first day of lessons. He knew each year's curriculum by heart, that wasn't the problem, no. The problem was keeping a class of 25 rowdy magical children safe where even the tiniest mistake could make their cauldron explode. Ah, the joys of teaching.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

As it turned out. Danny was quite a competent teacher. It was like all those years ago when he was teaching his own class to handle ghost weaponry. Only this time, the students were supposed to listen to him, which they did to some degree.

He was surprised how much he liked teaching. It was hard, especially when you have almost no experience teaching whatsoever, but he reminded himself of how he was taught and how he wanted to be taught as a kid and applied it in his own lessons.

Now, nearing the end of the day, he watched as the Slytherin and Gryffindor 5th years walked through the door. Severus had said that he could take a break this lesson, and he gratefully sat down in the darkest corner of the room, to not distract the students.

Severus greeted the students with his normal slightly sour demeanour and went through the motions of explaining what potion they'd be making, along with a few sarcastic remarks. Danny noticed, however, that he kept looking at one particular Gryffindor student.

In all Danny's other classes, he and Severus had surveyed the students and their potions together. As he got up to do the same again, Severus shook his head slightly at him in 'don't-worry-I-got-this' way. So, Danny dutifully sat down, observing the students.

But as the lesson progressed, and the students got twitchy from having Severus breathing down their neck, Danny had to do something. The one kid, that Severus had definitely singled out was sweating bullets and hastily, and sloppily cutting up his ingredients. Danny walked over to him and quickly snatched up the teen's wrist.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said, his voice a smooth tenor, as he looked at the stricken teen.

The kid looked absolutely terrified for a second before ripping his hand back and grouching at him. "Why not?"

Danny gave him a deadpan look, to convey that he wasn't about to be challenged on authority. "If you add the porcupine quills first, instead of adding two drops of syrup of hellebore, you're potion will be ruined."

Danny saw the teen swallow thickly. A ruined potion would automatically fail him for the day, and he really didn't need an angry Snape in his first class of Potions.

"T-thanks." The bespectacled teen managed to murmur.

"It's my job to help you, mister...?"

The boy looked at him like he was crazy now and pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Potter. Harry Potter," He said softly.

Danny smirked his best Phantom smirk at him and motioned to the clock. "Better get going, Mr Potter." Before walking away.

He saw that Severus was staring at him while he walked over to another student to help with her potion.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

The end of the lesson was nearing, and Severus called out the ten-minute mark. With some smug satisfaction, Danny noted that all of the students that he had helped had some version of silver vapour rising from their bubbling cauldrons.

"Potter." He heard Severus snapped at the first student he'd helped.

"Yes, sir?" He asked hesitantly.

"You have actually managed a decent potion, today." He began, while Potter looked up with a surprised expression. "But, if it hadn't been for Professor Fenton's hand holding you would have a potion just as bad as Longbottom's or Weasley's, wouldn't you?" He asked sardonically. "It seems, Potter, that you just can't succeed without leeching off of someone else." He finished with a lazy drawl as the Slytherin part of the room sniggered quietly.

Potter had turned beet red, and looked as if he wanted to protest, but swallowed his comment at the last second, but not giving the professor his answer.

Danny was dumbstruck, to say the least. Severus had seen him help the students the entire day. Even the sixth and seventh years had needed some help with their potions and Severus had just nodded calmly from his corner. Of course, these children would have the O.W.L exams at the end of the year, but this was going too far.

Before he, or anybody else, had time to reason with the Potions Master, the bell rang, and Severus gave them all a curt, "Class dismissed."

As the classroom slowly emptied and only Severus and Danny were left, Severus whirled around, robes flaring, and stomped towards Danny until he could feel the other's warm breath spilling over his face.

"Why did you help Potter, first?" He demanded.

"He was having trouble, so I helped him," Danny answered slowly, not seeing where this conversation was going.

"Longbottom needed help, Goyle needed help, Patil needed help. Why did you pick Potter first?" He yelled angrily, gripping the fabric of Danny's robe.

"Calm down, Severus." Danny boomed, his voice gaining the hint of an echo as his power, the King's Command, unconsciously set in.

Severus backed down immediately as if he'd been forced to release Danny. He shook his head for a moment before huffing out a breath.

"What's so special about Potter anyway? I only know he was the kid that came late to the ceremony yesterday." Danny mused, more calmly now.

"What's the deal with Potter? Have you been living under a rock for the past 15 years? Have you not heard about the glorious tale of the Boy-Who-Lived? The one to defeat the Dark Lord?" Severus blew up as he threw his hands up in the air.

Danny stopped for a fraction of a second. He had heard of the Dark Lord and his defeat by the prophesied child. He just hadn't known it was something so recent, and he certainly never thought Harry Potter to be that child.

"Severus." Danny chided. "You may have forgotten that I was introduced to the mere thought of magic three months ago? That I might not be up-to-date with everything?"

"But certainly Potter, w-" He was cut off by Danny, who lifted his hand.

"I don't know what your personal vendetta against Potter is, Severus, but I do see that you're putting a lot of strain of him. I would suggest backing off a little, give the kid a damn breather. He looked ready to, or shit his pants or tear your throat out earlier. None of which is a good thing. Also, don't think I didn't see you favouring the Slytherins just now. Didn't you hear what the Hat sang yesterday? We must all stand united, and obviously favouring a fourth of your classes isn't going to do much good." Danny stated quietly before walking out of the classroom and up to the library.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

He'd been walking for a while, blowing off some steam as he searched for the staircase to the library. He'd been mulling over some of the things Severus had said in regards to the Dark Lord. The centaurs had said that a war between Dark and Light was always afoot in the Wizarding World. Light and Dark were both needed to balance all the power in the world, and he knew Bane held strong opinions over the foolishness of men when it came to keeping that balance.

Danny himself also knew the meaning of balance. Even though Dark Dan was locked away safely in Clockwork's tower, he was sometimes still reminded at night how quick the balance could be tipped, and what would happen if it did.

A familiar sounding painting helped his head out of his thoughts.

"Come back, you scurvy dog! Stand fast and fight!" He heard Sir Cadogan yell at someone who rounded a corner.

"Scurvy dog? What are you, a pirate?" Danny asked lightly.

"Oh, my Liege, what an honour to meet you again." The painted knight said as he made a curtsy.

"Sir Cadogan, what did I tell you about the "My Liege" thing? And also, only women do a curtsy." He corrected absentmindedly. Dora had rammed all these rules in his head before he was crowned king.

Sir Cadogan just waved his sword into the air in and loudly proclaimed, that he, Sir Cadogan, would do anything for Danny's attention.

"Honestly, my Liege, you should be proud of your title! I sure am, and I am but a lowly knight." The painting spoke while almost batting his eyes at Danny.

"I'm not giving you a higher rank, Sir Cadogan," Danny said with a sigh and a light chuckle. "I'm going now, goodbye Sir Cadogan." He rounded the corner while still waving at the picture and accidentally bowled over the person from before.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there." Danny held out a hand to the fallen student, and let out a quiet "Oh." When it turned out to be none other than Harry Potter.

"Mr Potter, just the person I needed to talk to." Danny chose to ignore the glare those emerald green eyes were shooting him. "I'm sorry for Professor Snape's unfair treatment today." He confessed softly. "I don't know what got into Severus, but he hasn't objected to me helping anyone before."

"Well, Snape has never treated me any better." Harry snapped at the older man.

"Oh." Danny raised an eyebrow. "Do you know why?"

Harry got a dark look in his eye and muttered under his breath, "It could be because Snape's a greasy Death Eater, check his left arm, and you'll see".

Danny knew that Harry hadn't meant him to hear it, but he did, superhuman hearing really was a curse, and that revelation rocked his very core. _'Severus was a Death Eater, a follower of the Dark Lord?'_

"What?" He whispered.

"Nothing, sir. I don't know what Snape has against me. I need to go to Divinations now." And Harry walked away from him.

Danny stood alone in the hallway, trying to keep away the cold that was trying to claw up to his core. Had Severus really joined that madman? The one that killed thousands of people, and tortured for fun? As someone who had seen the pain and suffering a person like that could cause, he was absolutely disgusted by the possibility that his friend was part of such a group.

He started to walk back to the dungeons but ended up running down the flights of stairs. He skidded to a stop in front of Severus' personal chambers. Without knocking, he flung open the door and stalked towards Severus.

"Daniel, I-" The other man began.

"Did you join the Dark Lord?" Danny demanded his hand clenching and unclenching erratically.

"What?" Severus was on guard immediately and fingered his wand in his sleeve.

"Are you a Death Eater?" He questioned further, walking forward and pinning Severus to the wall.

"No! Of course not." Severus exclaimed in his ear, trying to struggle away from him, but he didn't have inhuman strength for nothing.

Danny angrily grabbed Severus' left wrist and shoved up the piece of fabric.

The Dark Mark.

Danny let go of him at once and looked at Severus with so much pain and hurt in his eyes that the older man recoiled slightly.

"Friends don't _lie_ , Snape." He said coldly before leaving the Potions Master alone in the dungeons.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

Severus stood frozen against the wall of his office. His heart was still beating loudly in his chest from the feat of strength he didn't know Daniel had. Slowly but surely he dropped to the ground, still against the wall, and grabbed hold of his outer robes and pulled them on more snugly. It was cold here. In the dungeons. Alone.

Sure, he'd been alone for the better part of his life, but this was a new feeling of emptiness. He'd made a friend in Daniel, in a way he hadn't thought possible after Lily's death. He longed for the other man's company. Wanted him to be there, to talk to him.

Daniel wanted to be there for him, and him alone. Didn't want him for his potions prowess. His connection to either Voldemort or Dumbledore. Just him. Just Severus.

He felt like the cold was eating him now. As if the other man's presence had filled that cold, that void, with a comforting warmth.

He stood up shakily. He wasn't going to lose this friendship. Not this time. To hell with all the consequences, he was going to show Daniel that he wasn't the monster.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

It wasn't that hard to find him in the end, Severus mused. The boy had frequently talked about his love for stars, and visited the Astronomy Tower often enough, that it could be considered a safe haven.

He hadn't expected to find him standing on the very edge, though. Slightly swaying in the strong breeze that cut through the fabric of his cloak.

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself. "Careful. You could fall."

Instead of scaring the other, like Severus had thought he would, Daniel just looked back with haunted empty eyes. "At moments like these, I wonder if it wouldn't be better. To fall, I mean." He spoke softly, his voice carried by the wind.

"Don't you think that's a silly thought?" Severus asked, quietly.

"Do you think it's silly that your friend, on the turn of a dime, becomes a murdering Death Eater? Working for someone who's literally killed thousands of people, in a godforsaken war about something so childish as blood purity?" Danny asked. Not even a flicker of emotion to be found.

"I never killed anyone." Severus spat vehemently. "And I'm here to say I'm sorry. That I had to lie to you like that. I want to show you something that will explain everything." He begged as he looked into Danny's baby blue eyes.

Danny hesitated for a second, but a tiny voice in his head, that sounded remarkably like Clockwork, kept saying that everyone deserves a second chance.

"Alright, but last chance. Lead the way."

And to the Pensieve, they went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, the reason Danny reacts so badly, he's seen what an absolute madman can do when set free. *cough* Dark Dan *cough* And it really scarred him for life. He still has nightmares about it, and it happened four years ago. Dan was 25, so, minus 10 years, we have a 15-year-old Danny, and in this story, he's 19, hence four years.
> 
> But, anyway, it really is a blow when you find out that your very good friend, dare I say best friends in this universe, turns out to be a hootin' tootin' Death Eater. Like, wouldn't you be taken aback? 
> 
> About Harry and him being a brooding 15-year-old and saying stuff like that about Snape. Severus insulted him even worse than in the book, so of course, he's gonna be super mad about it. Also, let's face it, Harry and the rest of the trio aren't all that subtle with what they discuss at breakfast or in the hallways. So him slipping up and just darkly muttering shit under his breath seems in character enough, but I agree to disagree with everyone that doesn't think like that.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

Danny was wringing his hands together, to hide the erratic twitching of his fingers. Severus was going to show him everything, was going to take away the numb feeling eating at his soul for the past hour. At least, that’s what he hoped Severus would do.

They were standing in front of the painting, leading to Severus’ chambers. A quaint little village, in Italy most likely, with a single house upon a hill, surrounded by an olive garden. A young woman stood smiling in the picture, and as she saw Severus, swung open the door with a small nod.

He led him to the end of the room, to another door, where Danny knew his personal stores were. He ducked under the doorframe and came back out a moment later with a large stone bowl, with intricate runes etched into the surface. He set the bowl down on his desk and motion for Danny to join him.

“This is a Pensieve. It allows you to watch a memory, be it from yourself or others, from a third person view. What I’m going to show you know, you must vow not to tell anybody. Only if your life depends on it.” 

Danny nodded seriously; he wouldn’t betray Severus if he didn’t have a good reason. 

“I can’t force you to swear on an Unbreakable Vow, but if you signed a secrecy contract, that would put my mind at ease,” Severus said softly as he held out a piece of parchment.

“This doesn’t look like you made this just now,” Danny commented, as he ran his eyes along the page. “Do you just have secrecy contracts lying around or…” The younger man trailed off.

“I was planning to show you this eventually,” Severus admitted after a few tense seconds. “I just hadn’t expected it to be so soon.” He shrugged his shoulders. “After we’re done, would you mind telling me who gave you the idea?” The Potions Master asked with real concern.

“Let’s just assume that I figured it out on my own.” Danny formulated slowly. He wouldn’t put Harry on the stand even more. Not with Severus breathing down the poor sod’s neck already. 

“Fine.” Severus ground out. He would find the leak, sooner or later. Indeed there was only a handful of people who could have ratted him out. Harry Potter being suspect number one.

It fascinated Danny as much as it disturbed him, to see Severus put his wand tip to his head, and drag out a silver stream. He dunked it in the water, and the silver immediately turned to wispy black smoke.

“These are my memories. We’re going to look at them together, and I will explain everything.”

Danny nodded his head in a short quick jerky motion and waited for Severus to catch his breath. The other seemed just as terrified as he was to watch the memories.

“Then let’s go.” Severus gently grabbed his head, tangling long fingers in his hair, and pushed it into the black and silver swirls of the Pensieve.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

Danny had the overwhelming sensation of falling and panicked slightly when he couldn’t access his ability to fly. He freaked a little more, but eventually landed firmly on the ground. He stood in a house he didn’t recognise, when he turned, he saw Severus standing next to him, eyes fixed firmly on the door.

The door opened and a tiny kid wearing hand-me-down clothes, as could be seen from patches stitched on the elbows, and shoulders of the kid’s long-sleeved shirt, came inside and called for his mother.

It took his mind a moment for the dark hair and black eyes to click. This was Severus, as a child.

Instead of the female figure the child-Severus was expecting, a tall hook-nosed man came walking down the stairs with a beer bottle clutched tightly in his hand. He sneered when he saw the kid standing in the hallway.

“Your mother’s not home. She went out to buy more _potions_ ingredients.”

Danny could feel the pure loathing of the word potions. He looked back at the little child, holding his arms close to his chest. ‘A defence mechanism if I’ve ever seen one.’

“What did you need her for?” The man asked, sitting down in the mismatched chairs surrounding the dining table.

“I made a friend today.” Severus stopped for a moment, choosing his next word carefully. “She’s like me, and she’s really nice.”

The man burst out laughing, which seemed to unsettle the small child. The laughter quickly died down.

“So you found someone who doesn’t think you're a freak?” He asked the boy. “Well, don’t worry kid, I’m still here to keep that balance firmly in check.” The man stood up and moved towards Severus, who cowered in the corner. “Your pathetic, you hear me. You’re a pathetic little boy, and I’m ashamed to call you my son. If it weren’t for your mother’s wand pointing at my face when I even look at you funny, I would have beaten the bitch out of you.” He snarled before whirling around and disappearing up the stairs once more.

The images around him blurred but he could still hear the soft cries and sniffles of a frightened little boy.

The next few scenes were happy ones, where a Severus through various ages played with a girl with bright red hair and familiar green eyes.

“Lily was my only friend.” Severus, the adult next to him, explained. “She was so precious to me.” He sighed for a moment, and the blur shifted to Hogwarts. “But I made a mistake one day.”

They were standing in the Great Hall. Severus was just in front of him, scribbling on his paper and entirely ignorant of the outside world. After a while, Filius called for them to drop their quills, and Severus quickly grabbed his bag, and a few papers and filed out with the rest of the students. He was reading and walked on autopilot to a few bushes near the lake, where he could sit in the shadows. 

“See those four over there?” Severus asked him. “You can probably guess who Potter’s father is. Next to him is Pettigrew, on the other side, there’s Lupin. And the one in front of him is Black.” Severus looked at his younger self for a moment. Hurt swimming in his eyes. “I was so foolish, especially then.”

Young Severus stood up from his spot but whirled around as soon as Potter spoke.

“All right, Snivellus?"

“They called you that?” Danny asked. Severus nodded solemnly."

“I didn’t have any friends besides my fellow Slytherins and Lily.” He confessed softly.

The scene had progressed, and Lily was screaming something at James. “Leave him ALONE!”

“Wow, Harry really has his mother’s eyes.” Danny walked forward to get a closer look at her. She was stunning with her thick red hair, and contrasting, startling, green eyes. Danny understood why Severus had fallen for her.

Danny looked around, tuning out the conversation next to him, to observe the people.

Black was smirking along with James. Lupin was still sitting under the tree, focussed on his book, not involving himself but also not stopping the others. Pettigrew looked like he was on cloud nine, while he looked at James.

“OI” Black called out, and Danny looked back a Severus, who had fallen back to the ground and taken hold of his wand. There was a brief flash of light, and a cut appeared on Potter’s cheek.

“Did you just curse him?” Danny asked startled. He hadn’t seen that curse before, and Severus had done it silently as well.

“Yes, that is one of my own makings. Sectumsempra.” Severus looked down at his shoes. Waves of discomfort rolling off of him.

Danny, having mastered a fair bit of Latin from dealing with Clockwork too much, translated the spell in his head. Sectum meant ‘having been cut’ and sempra meant forever. Having been cut forever or even better, severed forever. _‘Huh, it even has a pun. Kudos Severus, kudos.’_

Meanwhile, Severus was hanging upside down, revealing his underwear. Danny shot a look at the adult standing next to him. There was hurt in his eyes, as expected, and even a glimmer of anger, but the most dominant emotion that Danny could see was shame. Guilt and shame, brewing up a storm in those onyx eyes.

Lily was defending Severus, pointing her wand at Black and Potter, with a death glare settled on the both of them.

“There you go. You’re lucky Evans was here, Snivellus-”

“I don’t need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her.” 

And within the span of a second, the damage was done. Danny turned to look at Lily, and almost recoiled at the pain in those eyes. He knew then that this was the moment Severus had lost Lily. And talking wouldn’t make this better.

“She never spoke to me again. Not if she could avoid it. I was so stupid, and all it took was one slur, on something that she couldn’t change. She defended me, I took my anger out on her, and it all went to hell.” Severus hung his head low, a hand in his hair. He was shaking.

“I loved her, Daniel. She was my first friend, and from the moment I saw her, she took my breath away. I would do anything for her.” He was silent for a moment.

“I was lost and angry, and I didn’t know what to do.” Severus paused again and licked his lips. “Until an owl from Lucius Malfoy arrived. He said he had an offer.”

“To join the Dark Lord.” Danny finished slowly, a bitter taste in his mouth.

“I did,” Severus replied, and the world shifted again.

“What a pleasure that you could join us, Severus.” A cold voice said from the other side of the room. His hood was down, revealing the serpentine feature of Lord Voldemort, and a smile played on his lipless face. 

“The pleasure is all mine, my Lord,” Severus said as he kneeled before the powerful wizard.

“My, my, Lucius, you have outdone yourself with this one. You’ll make the perfect Death Eater, Severus.” The Dark Lord took a few steps until he stood right in front of Severus. “Your left arm.” He commanded.

Severus held up his left arm, and it was snatched up by Voldemort, who pressed his wand tip into the soft flesh and began a series of hisses. Slowly, the Dark Mark appeared, writhing and no doubt causing Severus agony, Danny speculated by the gritting of the man’s teeth alone.

“I expect great things from you, Severus. I always wanted a personal Potions Master.”

And the world spun again.

“A few years later, I overheard a prophecy, about a boy with the power to defeat the Dark Lord. I went to him and informed him. He concluded that it was Lily’s child, and wanted to murder them all, and I couldn’t let him do that. I begged him to spare Lily, but I couldn’t trust him. Why would the Dark Lord spare a Mudblood, after all? So, I went to the only person he ever feared. Dumbledore.”

As the scene played out before him, Danny saw what the revelation of Lily’s imminent death had done to his friend. His hair was in disarray, his hands were shaking, and the man was thin as a rail. Dumbledore must have seen it too, as the man ran his eyes up and down Severus once more before he nodded and accepted the request.

“I asked Albus to put them under protection, but they trusted the wrong man, and their location was leaked to the Dark Lord.” He was quiet. “They didn’t stand a chance. Until the Killing Curse failed to kill Harry. I got to the house not long after.”

The image before him was haunting. Severus held Lily’s lifeless body close to his chest. Rocking back and forth as tears streamed over his face. He looked so broken. Unravelled.

Danny swallowed heavily, Severus was showing him this in a move of utter faith and trust. He looked up to the real Severus, tears twinkling in the corners of his eyes. Impulsively, Danny reached out and grabbed Severus’ hand, and squeezed it. Severus looked at him gratefully for a moment, before losing composure completely.

Unravelled indeed, as Severus crumpled to the floor of his memory and held his head in his hands while sobs tore through his body. Danny, again on impulse, enclosed the other in a warm hug, holding him until the tremors stopped and his breathing calmed.

The world swirled black and white.

“I made a promise that day, to Albus,” Severus said, his voice raw from crying. “I would protect Lily’s boy, so her legacy would never go to waste.”

And suddenly they were back in the office.

“I’m a spy for Albus now, I gather what I can from the Dark Lord, and report it back to him.” He said with tired, lost eyes.

“Oh, Severus,” Danny said as he gave the man another hug, sensing that he needed it. “I’m sorry for doubting you, and I’m honoured that you would show me these memories. Thank you.” Danny whispered in his ear. “Your secrets are safe with me.”

Danny was lost in thought for a few seconds. Severus had shown him the worst and happiest moments of his life, all because he cared about their friendship. Should he too give Severus that same trust? They both had dangerous secrets, and putting something else on his friend’s shoulders seemed so unfair. Then again, keeping it from him filled him with such guilt.

He looked at the other man, still in his arms. He could feel the slow rise and fall of his breathing. Could smell the slightly lemony scent that seemed so becoming to the man.

_‘Well, you know what they say. Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.’_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, because I have this ridiculous need to protect my work, (because I'm an insecure little shit) I have to talk about some scenes I used that aren't specifically used in the books. To my knowledge, the scene with Severus hugging Lily isn't in the books. I still used it because it made a huge impact on me when I first saw the movies. I wanted that same impact to hit Danny square in the face, because he needs to understand that Severus is hurting, always. 
> 
> Also, again for Severus and him being OOC, (not that anyone is saying that, but I still think people are gonna judge for that) we only see Severus from Harry's point of view, which means we see a somewhat 2D version of the 3D character that Severus is. He has hurts, feelings, weaknesses. I'm using those. 
> 
> Also also, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING, you guys have no idea how much this means to me, again maybe you do, but still. Thank you for your kudos, and lovely reviews. *does a curtsy*
> 
> ore-sama out!


	7. Chapter 6

Danny tried his best to act normal the next week. Not that there was anything wrong on Severus’ side, but the nerves were killing Danny. He wanted so bad to talk about his secret, but he also really didn’t. How was he even going to broach the subject? 

_ “Hey, Severus, can I have a moment of your time? Yeah, I forgot to tell you, I’m from an alternate universe. Oh, I’m also known as the scythe-wielding, skeletal entity, Lord Death.” _

Yeah, not going to happen.

If he could just have a moment of alone time with Severus.

It was weird how close they were, always on each other’s lip one moment, and the next they didn’t have a minute to spare to sit down and talk.

But now, late at night on a Friday, after dinner was his chance.

He touched Severus on the shoulder, as the other was about to swoop into his office to grade papers or retire for the night, a nervous air around him.

“Could we speak for a moment,” Danny asked, cursing himself for his insecurity.

Severus looked thoughtful for a moment, debating if he could spare the time, and after finding he did, opened the door.

Danny walked inside but didn’t sit down in his usual chair, choosing to stay standing up. Severus joined him but lowered himself into the seat behind his desk. Severus looked at him for a moment with questioning eyes.

“Due to the recent…,” Danny searched for the right word. “development, in our relationship, I wanted to clear the air a little. After all, I don’t think it’s fair for me to be keeping secrets when you showed me yours.” He finished lamely. “Do you perhaps have a room bigger than this one, where I can show you?” 

Danny had honestly considered his options here. If he was going to tell Severus everything, he might as well put up a show. Not that he wanted to scare the man with his Death-form, but saying you’ve got magical Death powers is different from seeing it. Then again, the office wasn’t big enough for his little demonstration, and he didn’t want a student walking in on their business so using a classroom was also out of the question.

“Hmm, I am curious, as to what you want to show me. But I believe I have a room that we can use.” He said calmly, as he mentioned for Danny to follow him out the door.

They silently trekked through the castle, and stopped on the seventh floor, across the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, where said Barnabas was teaching trolls how to do ballet and failing miserably. That always cracked Danny up.

“This is what the house elves call, The Come and Go Room, but to us humans it is mostly known as the Room of Requirement. Think of the place you need, and walk in front of the wall three times. You can also think of an abstract idea like a room to study or a place to think.” Severus said with a smirk as he saw Danny’s dumbfounded expression.

“If there ever was a deus ex machina, this would take the cake,” Danny muttered as he walked back and forth three times.

“What?” Severus asked about the unfamiliar term.

“Nothing, nothing.” Danny waved him off as he stopped pacing and looked at the simple wooden door that appeared on the wall.

“Well,” He motioned his hand towards the door. “after you.”

With a slight grimace, Severus opened the door, only to freeze upon seeing the inside. “Daniel. What is this place?”

Danny, alarmed, stepped inside as well and only heard the door close behind him with a quiet thud.

The Fenton Works basement.

Complete with hidden ghost training equipment, judging from the secret buttons his parents knew nothing about. 

Complete with the yellow and black striped doors of the Ghost Portal.

His legs moved on his own accord, as he sprinted towards the DNA lock, and pressed his thumb against the scanner. A soft bleep signified his recognition, and he waited with baited breath as the Portal opened in a rush of steam.

Only to be empty. 

Yes, there was a hole in the wall, but no swirly green vortex.

He huffed as he felt that small glimmer of hope fade away. “Of course, creating an exact replica of the lab is no big deal, but transdimensional portals are too much to ask for.”

A small piece of parchment appeared in his hand. “Yes.” It said.

“Don’t sass the Room, Daniel. It has a conscious of its own.” Severus commented drily. “Now, could you explain where we are? You recognised it, if you running towards that thing like a Gryffindor, meant anything at all.” He sneered slightly.

Danny blushed slightly at the reprimanding and scratched the back of his neck. “Uhm, well, welcome to my parents’ basement.” 

“Back in America, I presume. I can’t place any of this...technology.” He remarked questioningly.

Danny knew that Severus didn’t think highly of muggle tech, but then again this was 20th century, where the internet wasn’t even a thing yet. 

“Yes, and no. Before we get into that, we need to establish a few things.” Danny wished he could sit somewhere and two plush armchairs appeared.

“I’m going to tell you the story of who I am, but I need to explain this along the way, so please keep your questions until the end, and I’ll answer them.” The younger said with a pleading look.

“Okay, tell your tale,” Severus admitted and leant back into the chair.

“My parents are inventors. They have created numerous things in different fields, but their greatest invention to date remains the Ghost Portal.” He stopped to catch his breath and glanced at Severus, who looked like he wanted to ask something but kept his mouth wisely shut.

“About a month after my 14 birthday, they announced to my sister and me, that they were ready to put the power on, to see if it would work. They tried, but it failed. They were so dejected that they went on a weekend trip together. My sister scoffed at the entire idea of a Ghost Portal and went to study over at a friend’s house, not bothered by their failure. I invited my two best friends over. Sam, wanted to take a look at the Portal, as she was interested in the occult and fabled. Tucker just wanted to have a look at the tech. After about half an hour, Sam dared me to go inside.” He pointed his finger at the gaping black hole in the wall. “I didn’t want to at first, but she convinced me.” Danny’s voice sounded oddly hollow, melancholic even. 

“I put on the HAZMAT suit  my parents made for me.” A moment later a copy of his suit appeared in Danny’s hands. 

“I went in, but it was so damn dark that I couldn’t see where I was going. I tripped and put my hand against the wall for stability when I felt it give away a little, like the push of the button.” He laughed. But it was wrong, echoing, distorted.

“I died that day, Severus.” He said his voice flat and not a trace of humour in his eyes, which looked cold and dead. “You know what they say; curiosity killed the cat.” He tilted his head slightly. “But maybe the part of satisfaction bringing it back is true.” He shrugged. “I lost something that day, but I also gained something. I died, but not completely. I’m not going to bore you with the details, but I’m known as a Halfa. Half alive, half dead. Half human, half ghost.” He finished.

Severus what out of his chair in seconds, once again towering over his assistant. “Don’t think you can play me like this, Daniel.” He spat. “I’m not listening to some ludicrous story, that a brat made up. I gave you my trust, don’t misuse it by dragging it through the mud.”

“Sit down,” Danny commanded as he stood up. And Severus needed to blink a little as he found himself back in his chair. “I am no fool, Severus. I wouldn’t tell you if I didn’t have proof of my claims. Now, stay there and shut up, till I’m done explaining!” Danny roared.

Severus had a sinking feeling that he couldn’t disobey.

Danny breathed out slowly as he regained his calm, and sat on the arm of his chair. “I understand your need for proof, but I need to explain a little more.” 

“When I woke up from the accident, I looked different. I had snow white hair and glowing green eyes. I could walk through walls, disappear and fly. I was unique. Changed. A ghost. And I learned to live with that as best I could. From one day to the next, I had a superhero alter ego.” He stopped to grin a little. “It wasn’t all fun and games, I took some hard hits, now and then, but it was freeing. A few years later, as I was exploring the Ghost Zone, I’m sucked into this Portal that appears right in front of me, and I end up here. In a world filled with magic, of all things.”

Severus, who had found his voice in the last minute, summed it all up. “So, if I were to believe you, you’re saying that you’re from an alternate universe, and you’re half ghost?”

“Yup,” Danny said, popping the p.

“Okay, I’ll believe you. If you show me your supposed, ghost-form.” Severus stated and crossed his arm over his chest.

“Okay, I will. But please realise that I traumatised one of the centaurs with this.” He said sounding hopeful.

“Proof, Daniel. I want proof.” Severus didn’t budge.

“It appears that the crossing over to your universe, did change my ghost-form but you have been warned,” Danny said with a sigh.

It happened in a second.

Unbeknownst to Danny, who didn’t notice anything during his transformation, it was pretty concerning to watch.

First, the light in the room dimmed, as the shadows seemed to race towards Danny, enveloping him in a cloak of darkness. His form grew and distorted until, with the creak of bones, two shadowy black wings unfolded from their dark cocoon and settled behind his shoulders.

His white hair was like a living flame, dancing, flickering on his scalp, even if a small part seemed to be tied in a ponytail. His eyes were as green as the Killing Curse, even if they too burned with a cold fire. His face was skeletal, black bones peeking out of a dark hood. The cloak he wore was of a fine, silvery material, shimmering slightly in the harsh lighting of the lab. He stood at around seven feet, dark bone hands curling around a shiny black scythe. 

**_“Hello, Severus. Lord Death at your service.”_ **

The voice hurt, grating and echo-y.

“D-d-Daniel? Is that you?” Severus choked out as he fingered his wand.

**_“Yes, it’s me. I told you I scared Bane with this, didn’t I? I know, it’s slightly imposing, but underneath I’m still me.”_ ** The skeletal figure offered with what was supposed to be a comforting grin, but just sent shivers up and down Severus’ spine.

Quickly, Danny morphed back into his human-form and laid a hand on Severus’ shoulder, and shook it slightly. “Hey, it’s okay. I won’t transform unless absolutely necessary. I’m still me.”

“Yes, okay.” The other man breathed as he slowly sank back into his armchair. 

“I need to warn you, the show’s not over yet,” Danny said seriously as he looked Severus in the eye. “I’m going to put everything out in the open now. No more secrets.” He reassured the other, who was still catching his breath.

“No more secrets,” Severus whispered and nodded to Danny.

“Back in my universe, and gosh that’s weird to say, I had a few interesting powers.”

“Invisibility.” He announced, before promptly turning invisible. “Intangibility.” He said as he popped back into the visible spectrum and plunged a hand through his chair. “Flight.” He hovered a little, before doing a lap in the basement. “My other power needs some explanation, as it is a tad overpowered at the moment.” Silently he set his hand alight with a flickering neon green flame. “I used to make ectoblasts, that harmed or injured an opponent. As I’ve seen, on accident, these don’t injure. They kill.” He shot a tiny ray from his index finger to the other side of the wall and left a miniature scorch mark. Danny sighed as he heard Severus’ sharp intake of breath. But he soldiered on. “The last power I tested, was my ability to manipulate ice, but when I tried it, the herd told me that I had powers similar to that of a dementor, and I don’t want to do that to you, Severus.” He pleaded quietly.

“I don’t think I want to experience that. We’ll leave that one be.” The Potions Master said slowly as he stood up and began pacing in front of his chair.

“I know this is a lot to take in, but please believe me. I just wanted to clear the air between us. I don’t want secrets ruining everything.” Danny cast his eyes to the floor, hoping he didn’t sound too pathetic. 

When Severus didn’t respond his stomach sank, and he made his way to the door. But a warm hand on his shoulder stopped him, and before he knew it, he found himself wrapped in a tight hug, that radiated relief.

“No more secrets,” Severus said, offering a shaky smile at his young assistant. 

“No more secrets,” Danny repeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sigh* Okay, so that it's out there. I'm not that happy with this chapter and how it turned out. I wanted more SOMETHING to happen, but it wouldn't come. So here you guys go. I appreciate all the comments and kudos and bookmarks. You guys are amazing, and I'm so sorry that this took so long. 
> 
>  
> 
> I do have a special surprise later this day...So stay tuned, but be sure to check my profile now and again.
> 
> Also, for the people asking, I'm in Central European Summer Time. I'm a Dutchie


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, girls, everything in between, and outside the box, I am so sorry for the late update. I started my study of German language and linguistics and damn son, that shit hard. Kudos to all the native German peeps, your language rocks. But it has kept me from writing, and I'm sorry that the quality of these chapters seems to swing back and forth a little, but I hope I can still entertain you.
> 
> Here ya go!
> 
> (Update: AO3 is doing some weird shit to the chapter placement, and number. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

Chapter 7:

To be honest, Danny’s life was going pretty swell at the moment. His friendship with Severus was stronger than ever, as both of them had opened up about their past and their secrets. (Severus had to keep in a snicker everytime a ghost or a painting would fawn and flutter their eyelashes at Danny. Secretly wondering how he missed it before.) 

But not everything was sunshine and rainbows. Umbridge had been promoted to High Inquisitor a few days after the two friends had come clean to each other. Which gave her the power to inspect and attend lessons, while keeping an eye out for members of staff she didn’t like. One of them being Danny.

He’d seen her sneer at him when she thought he wasn’t looking, or simply pretending he didn’t exist at staff meetings, much to Severus’ annoyance. He thought his assistant was a valuable asset, quick of mind and wit, and a good connection to the students. It did seem that the students of the younger years were more at ease while being taught by Danny, than by Severus. Something the Potions Master was grateful for.

The day after Dolores’ promotion, Severus was handing out the moonstone essays to his fifth year Gryffindor/Slytherin class, when he had to contain a sneer at Potter’s lousy work. Truly the boy had no talent for anything other than foolish wand waving. But he kept his own cheek in check, as he really didn’t want another falling out with Daniel. 

“I have awarded you the grades you would have received if you presented this work in your O.W.L.” He said with a grimace as he mentally counted the number of A’s, E’s, and O’s. “This should give you a realistic idea of what to expect in the examination.”

Danny sat listening with a half ear while he was reading in a corner. He had graded part of this class’ work and had thrown up his hands frustration near the end. Some of these kids couldn’t structurise if their life depended on it. Now, he too was a bit of a slouch when it came to essay writing, but he had been nowhere as bad as the likes of Crabbe, and Goyle. Even Granger, who seemed to have a decent brain, had been overly wordy and written as essay twice as long as was necessary. He knew of Severus’ plan to give the people with the lowest grades detention, and had offered to give a “Remedial Potions” class instead. If he was going to waste his time on supervising, he might as well be teaching. Severus had blinked at the suggestion but given him permission nonetheless.

“-on various varieties of venom antidotes, the dunces who managed to get a D for the essay will remain here after the lesson.” 

Danny massaged the bridge of his nose when he heard Malfoy snigger some mean comment. He despised bullies, especially after the Poindexter incident. Really, someone needed to teach the kid some humility. The problem was that Malfoy was an excellent student, and had written an almost perfect essay.

The lesson continued with little to no problems, and when the bell almost rung he stood up and called out, “Crabbe, Goyle, Davis, Longbottom, Potter, and Granger, stay behind for class a couple of moments would you.” 

Granger looked extremely surprised to be included, as she hadn’t gotten a D. 

“Oh how the mighty have fallen, Granger. Lost your touch haven’t you, you little Mudblood.” Malfoy sneered as he walked past her, and bumped into her table and spilled her things on the floor.

“You may stay too, Mr Malfoy.” Danny snapped out coldy before helping Hermione put her things back.

As the classroom emptied he saw the curious gaze of Hermione, and the seething one of Malfoy and almost barked out a laugh.

“No worries, Miss Granger. I didn’t keep you because you had a poor grade. I just want to advise you that going over the word limit also deducts points.” He stopped for a moment and smiled at the furious blush that spread over Granger’s cheeks. “I understand the need to prove yourself, but you have to work on writing a concise and understandable essay. I really don’t need five different cross references.” Danny smiled again as she blushed even harder. He sobered up when he looked at the Malfoy heir.

“Now, you Mr Malfoy do need to worry.” Danny’s voice was harsh and frigid. “I will not allow any bullying in this classroom. Be it sabotaging someone’s potion or name calling. I will not allow it.” 

Before Danny could go any further the blond exploded, “I don’t care what a squib has to say about me! My father will hear about this!”

“20 points from Slytherin, Mr Malfoy, for insulting a professor, and three days detention with me.” Severus growled as he stood up from his chair and stalked towards the young man in question, whose smug look withered as he came face to face with a livid Severus. “What would your father say if I told him you went about disrespecting your betters? Disrespecting, my assistant, no less.” He sniped. 

Danny took a moment to gather himself, as he was perfectly capable of defending himself, and hadn’t expected Severus to be so vehement. “Thank you, Professor Snape. The rest of you, come back tonight for your first session of Remedial Potions at 19:00, and no that is not a request. Now shoo,” Danny said with a dismissive wave of his hand. 

Danny shot Severus a bright smile in thanks, before the two switched positions, with Danny teaching the third year Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff class and Severus reading in the corner.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

Danny’s first Remedial Potions class went surprisingly well. He had first demonstrated the most common cutting techniques. Being careful to show the difference between dicing and mincing. He’d walked around, correcting when necessary, and helping Longbottom come out of his shell a bit when they connected over plants and cooking. And then ending the lesson with a quick rundown on how to structure an essay. With a thesis statement and all that jazz. (He’d also included a paper copy for Neville to give to Hermione. Making an extra note on the bottom underlining the word max.) 

The only person he’d missed, was Potter.

Not that that was such a strange occurrence, but the boy hadn’t objected before either. So, it was with great surprise that he saw Harry Potter walking down the corridors at midnight, clutching his left hand in a scarf.

“Why are you wandering around the castle at night, Mr Potter?” Danny called out.

Potter froze for a second, before turning around to face him. “I had a detention with Professor Umbridge, sir.” He bit out, sounding slightly pained.

Danny’s gaze lingered on his scarf wrapped hand but replied anyway. “Was that the reason why you were not in my classroom at 19:00?”

“Oh.” Was the sullen response.

“Yes, oh. I understand that you didn’t come because of Professor Umbridge’s wrath, but at least send a note next time, or tell someone,” Danny said sternly while looking at the young wizard. “Also, why do you have your hand wrapped in a scarf?” His curiosity finally getting the better of him.

Harry was quick to hide his hand but not without a wince, and answered with a, “Nothing, sir.”

“People don’t wrap their hands in clothing for nothing, Mr Potter.” Danny replied drily as he stepped closer to the teen, and snatched his hand from behind the other’s back.

“OW!” Harry hissed, as he tried to tug away his hand. Danny wouldn’t have it, and held a firm grip on Harry’s wrist while unwrapping the bright red and gold wool.

“I must not tell lies.” Stood raised in the child’s flesh. Still bleeding slightly, and probably hurting like hell.

“Who did this?” Danny fumed as he inspected the wound. Who ever had done this to a child had hell to pay. 

Harry, knowing it was no use to hide it now softly spoke, “It’s Umbridge, sir. She forces me to write with a Blood Quill.”

Danny hadn’t a clue what a Blood Quill was, but it sounded horrible, and if it did this to a person it surely wasn’t meant to be used at all. “With me, Mr Potter.” He said curtly and began dragging the teen to his personal chambers.

“What? Sir, I don’t understand. Where are we going?” Harry asked frantically, wondering if he got himself into more trouble.

“We’re going to take care of your hand, Mr Potter. I refuse to let you go back to your Common Room in this state.” Danny had trouble containing his anger, but he didn’t want the boy to think he was angry at him.

As they arrived, Danny let Harry go, and pointed his finger at the couch. “Sit, and wait here,” He said as he went to fetch some healing potions.

Not a minute later, Danny came back with a small box containing all his self-made healing potions and creams. 

“Here, put this on. It’s a numbing cream that should help with the pain.” He began as he gave Harry a small container with a faint lavender smell. Not that anybody knew, but Danny had used a muggle recipe to make this one. The magical version was such a hassle to make and couldn’t be scented, so he went the muggle way instead.

“I have several potions here, Mr Potter. One will heal your skin,” He said as he put the bright orange coloured potion aside. “This one you may recognise as a Blood Replenisher. I don’t know exactly what happens when writing with a Blood Quill, but you have to have bled, and I don’t know how much, so a few drops will do.” He put that potions aside as well. 

“Now,” He handed Potter the orange potion. “what did you do to get detentions with Umbridge?” 

Harry made a face as he swallowed the potion. “She’s not teaching us anything about Defence, sir. She deducted points from Hermione today because she gave her opinion. And I might have blown up about it.” He finished somewhat sheepishly. 

Danny hummed thoughtfully. “And is this her standard punishment?”

Harry snorted. “For me it is.” 

“How long do you have detention for?” Danny asked as he felt around for another cream and a bandage for Harry’s hand.

“The rest of the week, sir.” He said, gritting his teeth.

“We’re in a personal situation, Potter. You can call me Danny. I’m probably not that much older than you.” He whispered as he motioned for Harry to extend his hand. Danny ran his fingers along the raised flesh and made sure the previous cream had soaked in, before applying another for scar reduction. Finally he added the wrapping for his hand, setting it with a bit of water.

“You can call me Harry, then.” Harry said with a soft smile on his lips.

Danny returned the smile. “Detention with me for the rest of the week, Harry.” 

Danny enjoyed the outraged expression and angry spluttering on Harry’s part before cutting in. “Don’t be daft, Harry. If you have detention with me, you don’t have detention with Umbridge.” He smiled triumphantly. 

“You’d do that? For me.” Harry added as an afterthought, “What would I do in those detentions with you?” 

“Your first detention would be Remedial Potions, as you missed the first session today, but after that...,” Danny hummed. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”

“But, wouldn’t Umbridge be mad about it?” Harry said, worried. 

“Well, if I give you a good reason for detention with me, I don’t think she could. I’ll also talk to her about the use of Blood Quills and such on students.” His fist clenched and his knuckles turned white.

Harry visibly panicked and almost shouted, “No, you can’t do that. She’ll just make a new rule so she can fire anybody she doesn’t like. I don’t want you fired because of me.” 

Danny smiled at the boy, “That’s oddly considerate of you, Harry. Thank you for your concern.”

Harry seemed a little uncomfortable with the praise and just mumbled something under his breath about non-greasy Potions teachers. 

“I think that skiving off your Remedial Potions class will have to do, as a reason I mean.” Danny said thoughtfully. “I could have you cause an accident in class but that could be dangerous to the other students.” 

Harry shrugged as he inspected his newly wrapped hand. He’d never had a professor do something like that for him. “If you pretend to be angry enough, and it’s in a public place, Umbridge won’t be able to say anything of it.” 

“Would you mind terribly if Severus was the one to give you detention, then? Dolores doesn’t like me, and probably has something she can use against me, but I don’t think that even the likes of Umbridge will want to face Severus’ wrath.” Seeing the look of apprehension on Harry’s face, Danny’s mouth twisted into a grimace.

“Hey, Severus has been less of an ass to you in the last couple of weeks right?” Danny counted his lucky stars that Severus liked him as much as he did, as nothing seemed to help against the hellbent professor, except a disapproving look from Danny.

“Yes,” The teenager groused. 

“Well, trust me, if I inform him about this, he will just act mean. Maybe that’s a consolation.” Danny said with a hint of pity in his voice. Severus was very good at acting mean.

Danny grabbed the other teen’s hand and pushed it a little. When Harry didn’t wince, and just looked at him funny, Danny stood up and ruffled the younger male’s hair.

“You’re good to go, Harry. You’ll see what happens tomorrow, okay?”

“Yes, Danny.” Harry sighed with a smile. “Thanks again for wrapping me up. That was oddly considerate of you.” He said, quoting the Danny’s own words back at him.

“Oh wait. I’ll write you a note, explaining why you’re still out after curfew.” 

A flutter of parchment and the click of a ballpoint pen later, Harry was sent on his way to the Common Room.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

“POTTER! What is the meaning of this?” Severus boomed along the Great Hall. 

“The meaning of what, sir?” Harry asked bewildered.

“My assistant just informed me that he saw you snooping around in my personal potion stores last night, after curfew.” He said with a wicked smile on his face that sent a couple of firsties running.

“I-I wasn’t doing anything of the sort, sir. I was just coming back from detention with Professor Umbridge.” Harry made his voice sound as shady as possible, knowing it would normally infuriate the Potions Master.

Apparently it still did, as Snape exploded. “Are you accusing, Professor Fenton of lying? Who should I believe, my trusted assistant or a fifth year brat that has a tendency to lie? Detention with me for the rest of the week.” 

“But, I have detention with Professor Umbridge.” He whined, and looked at Umbridge with a pleading look.

“Well,” The toad spoke up. “I have no doubt that Professor Snape will teach you a good lesson. You can have the boy, Severus.”

“Thank you, Dolores.” He drawled, his voice acidic. 

And so it was done. 

Danny spotted Harry’s friends patting him on the back and whispering good luck. He made eye contact with the teen and nodded his head, and mouthed ‘7’. Harry smiled and gave him a small nod in return.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

At seven P.M sharp, Danny heard a knock on his door. He glided out of his seat, where he was reading a book on Time-Turners, and opened the door.

“Hi, Harry. Come in.” 

Harry shuffled into his office, hands tucked in his robe pockets and his bag hung over his shoulder. 

“I have a question, sir.” he said with a hint uncertainty. “I hope it’s not too offensive.” the boy added quickly.

“Harry, I told you to call me Danny. Or Fenton if you prefer but I’m not old enough to be called sir in private.” Danny cracked his fingers with a series op pops and smirked at Harry’s small wince. “And I don’t think you’ll hurt my feelings.”

Harry smiled and sat down on the couch. “I was wondering why you’re here at Hogwarts. We all heard that you were a Squib, and it’s not for a Squib to be working at Hogwarts, even if I wouldn’t mind getting rid of Filch, but I was wondering why exactly?”

“You’ve been thinking about this all day, haven’t you?” Danny asked as he eyed Harry, and huffed when he got a nod in response. “I work here at Hogwarts because of the library.” he answered simply. “There are so many things to learn, and Hogwarts is quite a catch for a bibliophile.”

“You’re joking, right?” Harry asked even though he could see that he wasn’t.

“Nope, I’m researching something personal, and I thought Hogwarts might help. It has cleared up a few things so far, but I’m nowhere near done.” the last part was added with a sigh and a pinch on the bridge of his nose.

He had researched, and both Albus and Severus had helped him look, but nothing about Dimension travelling was mentioned, and certainly not timetravelling dimension hopping, including ectoplasmic portals.

He’d thought about creating his own portal, but as soon as he’d done that, the lights in the dungeons flickered out and a soft wailing whisper called for help in the air. He’d closed it up right away, and not looked at it since.

It was hard at times, but Severus reassured him that they would find a way to his home, even if it took a little longer than a year.

“What are you researching?” Harry’s voice called him back to reality.

Danny sighed. “Not something you can help me with, Harry.” He sat back up and put a cheery smile on his face as he motioned for Harry to get up and follow him. “But that’s not what we’re here for. I’ve done enough moping for one day. Let’s get brewing!”

And so the lesson began.


	9. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Update? What does that mean? I haven't seen one in years...Hehe. Sorry.

Chapter 8:

“I don’t like criticising, but to be brutally honest, you suck at Potions,” Danny remarked as he looked at Harry’s half sweaty face with a quirked eyebrow.

“But I did everything the instructions said!” Harry exclaimed. He wiped his brow with the back of his sleeve and huffed out a breath.

“You minced the newt eyes instead of slicing them, and you crushed the porcupine quills when you should have broken them into three even pieces,” Danny commented dryly, as he looked at the lavender coloured potion, that should have been cobalt blue.

“Ugh.” Harry slammed his head against the desk and stayed like that for a solid minute before coming back up, rubbing his forehead, and shooting Danny a dark look. “What’s the difference between mincing and dicing anyway? And crushing and breaking?”

“Have you ever opened your books, Harry? The Beginners’ Guide to Potions, Muggleborn Edition says it all. Have you never thought to look it through?”

“I’m not muggleborn. I’m a half blood,” said Harry perplexed. He’d almost forgotten that Danny hadn’t known him. He didn’t like to be in the limelight, but at some level, it did feel strange to have someone not know about every facet of his life.

Danny looked at Harry for a moment, gears whirring around in his head. “You fell outside the scope,” he said sounding surprised.

“I fell out of what?” 

“Outside of the scope, it’s a saying. It means you didn’t meet the requirements. I heard for Severus that you were muggle raised, but I’d assumed you also got the standard muggleborn treatment. It seems I was wrong.” 

Harry frowned at the amused tone but asked nonetheless. “The muggleborn treatment? First time I heard of it.”

“You know that Minerva goes out and visits the muggleborns, right?” Danny continued after a nod from Harry. “Well, I asked her what she did during those visits, and she told me all about it. She visits the parents and the magical child and explains the wizarding world to them. Afterwards, she accompanies them to Diagon Alley to get their book. She also explained that there are special muggleborn edition books for classes like Potions. Children with a magical parent, or parents, usually receive training in the basics of magic and brewing. According to Albus, at least. So I guess that because you were muggle raised, but weren’t listed as a muggleborn in the Book of Acceptance, you didn’t get the muggleborn treatment.”

Danny turned and rummaged around on his bookshelf. He let out a small “Aha” when he found what he was looking for.

“Here ya go, Harry. We’re done for today, but I want you to read this and ask me questions about it during tomorrows detention. Don’t worry you don’t have to read it all.” the smirk on his face was enough to calm Harry down a little. He was swamped with homework already.

The cover of the book read, “Potions Techniques and How To Use Them.”

“I’ll do that, Danny. See you tomorrow.” 

With a thoughtful look, he stepped out of the office, walked his way up to Gryffindor tower, and for the first time ever, with his nose stuck in a book.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

The Hogwarts grounds were stunning, Danny decided as he walked towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest. It was high time to visit the herd of centaurs that had so willingly taken him in. He even missed the psychotic squirrels and their nasty nut throwing habits.

It wasn’t until the edge of the Forest that he realised that he hadn’t told anyone of his little day trip. Severus was in one of his daylong brewing sessions and probably wouldn’t miss him until dinner came around, and Albus tended to keep an eye on him when he thought that Danny didn’t notice, so his absence wasn’t completely unnoticed, but it still left him a little uncomfortable. He shrugged it off as uncertainty and walked along the slightly worn path that came from the wandering students that sneaked in on a regular basis.

He was walking for a while before he encountered one of the herds’ guards, called Magorian. 

“May the stars shine brightly tonight,” Danny said in greeting to the centaur. 

“May the path of your fate be illuminated.” Magorian returned, before bowing low at the waist. “It’s an honour to see you again, milord. We’ve been lonely here without you.”

“Ah, you flatter me, I am but a breath of fresh air. I was bound to be a hype,” he answered with a confident smirk.

“I missed that self-assured assery.” the centaur snorted as he dropped the formal tone and escorted Danny to the main grounds.

“How have things been for you lately?” Danny asked as he looked the horseman up and down.

“We’ve all been fine. Bane stopped having nightmares about skeletons, which was a good thing. Firenze hasn’t stopped boasting about his many adventures with you, and the council is about ready to banish him to the outskirts for a month.” Magorian grinned as Danny facepalmed and shook his head. Honestly, Firenze would never shut up about the stupid shit they, or instead, he’d tried when he had first gotten there.

“That good to hear, about Bane at least. I still am so very sorry that I scared him like that. Firenze is just basking in the spotlight, it’ll blow over soon.” he waved his hand in an airy gesture, making Magorian roll his eyes at his Lord’s antics.

The rest of that beautiful afternoon was spent catching up to the rowdy heard of centaurs, who all wanted a piece of him it seemed. But Danny wasn’t complaining, his life with the centaurs had been good, and he needed a break from the hectics of Hogwarts, however much he liked working in a castle, brewing magical potions.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

“I saw you on the grounds today,” Harry said as he came in on his second day of detention with Danny.

“Hmm?” Danny said as he looked up from the cauldron he was standing over. “Oh yes. I went to the forest to meet up with the herd of centaurs that live there,” he said nonchalantly.

“You know the centaurs? Firenze let me ride him once, but the other one, Bane, didn’t seem to like that.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. Those two can’t seem to get along. Do realise that it was a great honour for you to ride on Firenze’s back. Centaurs are very proud creatures, and extremely intelligent. They don’t easily bow down to anyone.” Danny stirred his potion again before nodding and ladling the hot fluid in a rack of waiting phials. “Have you read the book I gave you?” he then asked as he labelled the phials and then put them away in a storage cupboard. 

“I did, at least a few chapters. And this clears up a lot. I even asked Hermione about it she pulled it right out of her bag. I was so confused, but now I get it. Thanks so much for loaning it to me. I’ll give it back as soon as possible.” Harry ranted as he excitedly waved the little booklet in the air.

Danny laughed and ruffled Harry’s hair good-naturedly. “You can have the book, now do you have questions or do you wanna talk about anything else?”

“Well,” Harry bit his lip. “something has been bothering me for the last few days, and I really need a second opinion.”

Danny nodded encouragingly.

“Umbridge isn’t teaching us anything, and with Voldemort on the rise, they’re scared they haven’t learnt enough. So they asked me if I was willing to give them lessons on Defence. But I’m not sure.”

“Quick question. Why are your friends even asking you? You’ve learned the same thing, right? Or do you know more spells?” Danny asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’ve battled Voldemort at least two times already, I went up against a werewolf and a horde of dementors and won the Triwizard Tournament last year.” he looked pensive for a moment. “Oh wait, make that the third time I’ve battled Voldemort.” Harry averted his eyes and looked at the oh-so-interesting pattern on his socks.

“So you’ve had your share of death-defying stunts but have you learnt more than your friends?" Danny redirected his question.

"I know a few extra spells but not much. I think it has to do with experience." Harry's bony shoulders pulled up in a half-hearted shrug.

"Basically, your friends asked you because you must know something more because you've survived this long." Danny finished with a knowing look that Harry did his best to avoid.

"I want to help them, I just have no idea how." 

"I can help you set up a study group if you want. But in my opinion, your friends don't need a study group, they need a boot camp. Just a place where they can train the spells they want to improve. And maybe a place to get all of you into good physical shape. You're skin and bones, Harry. You need to eat better and do more exercise." 

Danny stood up from behind the desk to stretch his legs a little. "Go tell your friends about my offer, and tell me next time if they're interested." He said with a smirk on his face.

"Would you be our teacher?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Only if you want me to be," Danny answered kindly.

"Yes, please." The boy said quickly. Warming Danny's heart a little.

"Very well then, now go tell your friends."

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

There were three of them now.

“You know that you’re supposed to stay away from detention, not willingly participate?” Danny asked the three children as they sat down in front of him. While he sat perched at the corner of his table.

“Well, we couldn’t agree on anything, so we all came here to give you our ideas.” Hermione said matter-of-factly. Letting her bag drop to the floor.

“Let’s hear it then.”

“We agreed that we should from a group of some sort. To learn and practise spells and possibly get some exercise.” Harry picked up as Hermione gave Danny a sheet of spells that they wanted to learn.

“We can’t agree on what we want to practise first.” Ron chimed in as Danny went over the list. “I say go right to the offensive spells. Attack before the enemy can harm you. The best defence is a good offence” 

Danny hummed and nodded. It was a good idea, but he wanted to hear the others out too. 

“Defense is something we all need to learn. It seems logical to start somewhere that we all need. Not everyone wants to fight.” Hermione butted in.

“I’m with Hermione on this. Most of the spells that saved my life have been defensive. It seems good to start there.” Harry decided.

Danny looked over the list and recognised a shield charm. “Protego is the shield charm, right? Isn’t there a way to ricochet the spell fired back at the caster? That’s a way to make a shield charm both defensive and offensive.” Danny thought of the way Vlad’s shields were doubly dangerous because you had to evade your own attacks

“I hadn’t thought of it that way.” Harry muttered, eyes wide as the idea dawned on him fully. “If we can teach people to aim the ricocheted spell, that would be amazing.” He was excited now, almost bouncing in his seat.

“That’s genius.” Ron said as smiled widely.

“Don’t thank me just yet, we have a whole list of options left. What do you think is a good follow up to Protego?” 

“Definitely Expelliarmus. That saved my life last year.” Harry said seriously, and the smiles of both Ron and Hermione faded.

Danny felt the heavy, oppressive sadness settled over the room like a blanket. These kids were going through a war at the age of 15. Nobody deserved that. 

That’s how they spend the rest of the evening coming up with spell after spell, defensive and offensive both. Until they hit a snag.

“What about the people that get to attend? Are there specific guidelines to follow, or can anyone join?” Danny offered as he laid the sheet back down. They’d discussed enough spells for the time being.

“No Slytherins, that’s for sure.” Ron said as if it was no big deal.

“No.” Danny stated firmly.

“What no?” Ron fired back. “Come on; we’re not going to teach those slimy Slytherins to fight and use our tactics against us.”

“I happen to be one of those slimy Slytherins, thank you. Doesn’t everyone deserve the chance to learn how to defend themselves?” Argued Danny as he looked at Hermione and Harry who were staying quiet.

“But they’re Death Eaters.” Ron yelled as he stood in front of Danny.

“You don’t know that. And surely not all of Slytherin House. The Zabini family, for example, was neutral during the last war.” Danny wasn’t impressed by Ron’s arguing skills.

“But Malfoy’s father is. He even said so himself!” Here he could see Hermione nodding along, even while Harry decided not to say anything. 

“Are you your father?” Danny asked suddenly.

Ron sputtered for a moment, before blurting, “Of course, not.”

“Well, neither is Draco.” He said quietly as he looked at the floored expression on Ron’s face.

“You don’t even like him, why are you defending him?” Ron had turned a horrible shade of red to clash with his hair.

“You see my point don’t you?” Danny said with a soft smile. “Draco is a horribly spoiled brat, and I don’t like him, no, but everybody deserves to learn how to defend themselves. Nobody deserves to die because you were too arrogant to teach them.”

Ron hung his head low in defeat but nodded nonetheless. Danny looked at both Harry and Hermione.

“You understand that don’t you? This is war. And it’s only the beginning I know, but we can’t condemn somebody because of their House, their race, their gender, because no child deserves to die. You can’t punish Malfoy for his father’s mistakes, just like you can’t be punished for yours. We all need to decide where we stand, even if that’s a hard choice to make.” He concluded solemnly. 

“I won’t stop you from forming your group if you don’t want to include the Slytherins, but I won’t help you if you do.”

And with that he let thee pondering Gryffindors out of his office.


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to hide now...Enjoy!

Chapter 9:

Danny sighed as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Dark bags hung under his eyes from nights spent researching ways to get back. Severus was a big help, Albus, too, but he didn’t have as much contact with the wizened wizard as he would have liked. He was also running out of books to read. The Hogwarts Library was immensely big but it only covered the well-researched fields of study, dimension travel was something even the Unspeakables were struggling with, or so it seemed for the rather small collection of books on the subject. He’d talked to Severus before about going out into Diagon for a trip to Flourish and Blotts, to see if he had more luck there, but Severus had been sceptical.

“A bookstore such as that, profits from well-known books, not obscure means of travelling to another universe. You might get a hit in Knockturn, at stores like Borgin and Burkes, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The clientele isn’t the sort you want to be mixing with.” Severus had said.

There was also the trio of Gryffindors that he had sent on their way yesterday. He was sure that his talk had shaken things up, but he wasn’t sure about the final verdict. He hoped that they would show some compassion and allow Slytherin into their study group. But by Clockwork, those three were stubborn.

“You’ve been standing here for the past 15 minutes, my Lord. Are you sure you’re alright?” The mirror spoke sweetly, while Danny jumped out of his skin.

“Honestly,” he groaned. “first the centaurs, then the ghosts, then the paintings, and now a bloody mirror?” he facepalmed as he heard what he’d said. “And I’m even using British slang. Congrats, Fenton. Well done.”

“No need to be mean about it. I was only trying to show some respect.” the mirror huffed.

Danny just sighed and walked out of the bathroom.

 

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

 

Danny didn’t have his own Floo connection, so he had to use Severus’. He knocked on the man’s door and waited for him to open. He opened, several seconds later and greeted the younger man with a warm smile.

“I need to use your Floo connection. I’ve made up my mind about going to Knockturn. If I want to go home before the year is over, I need to gather all the information I can get.”

Severus frowned at that. “‘I’ll go with you.” But Danny was quick to counter him.

“Please, you have to grade the homework of the seventh-years. You’ve been procrastinating for the last week. I can handle myself, Severus, no need to worry.”

The older man raised a questioning eyebrow as if to say, of course, I need to worry about you, you idiot, but Danny paid it no mind and stepped towards the fireplace.

“I’ll see you into time for dinner, Borgin and Burkes!” He yelled and green flames transported him away.

 

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

 

Danny coughed as he stepped out the Floo in a seedy looking store, covered in soot and ash.

“You sure you at the right place, lad?” An old looking hag asked as he gathered his wits.

“Well that depends, is this Borgin and Burkes?” He dusted himself off and got a good look around the room. Everything was coated in a truly staggering amount of dust, which he supposed added character, and some of the items didn’t look all that customer friendly. From the snarling book in a cage to the creepy dried out hand.

“Depends on what you need.” The hag retorted while she pinned him with a dry look.

“I need a book,” Danny began. “about alternate universe theory, or dimension travel.” He cringed at how corny it sounded, but the hag didn’t seem to mind.

“I might have a book or two about that. Give me a minute.” She said as she disappeared behind a great bookshelf.

“Well well well, what is Severus’ pet assistant doing in such a dark themed establishment?” A familiar sounding drawl spoke up behind him.

“I could ask you the same question, Mr Malfoy,” Danny answered as he whirled around to face the man. He hadn’t actually seen Lucius before, but the resemblance to his son was uncanny. With the same bleach blond hair, the same drawling voice, only higher pitched in Draco’s case and the same condescending look of authority that Danny wanted to blast off with an ectobeam.

Whatever it was Lucius had to say, he was cut off by the hag from before. “This is the only book we’ve got on alternate universes, but I recall reading about another book that’s coming in in two days. Better hurry though, you never know if someone’s going to beat you to it.” She gave Danny the book, which was cover in a layer of dust.

“I’ll pick it up at 11 that same day, can you keep it for me till then?” Danny asked as he riffled through the pages.

“Sure, sure. That’ll be 3 galleons then.”

Danny handed over the money and turned to walk away, before twisting back around towards Lucius. “I can see where your son gets his manner from, good day Mr Malfoy.”

 

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

 

When he was back at Hogwarts, Danny weighed his words. Maybe it wasn’t that smart to talk to Lucius like that, but he’d always been a smart mouth, so it didn’t bother him that much. Still, it left a lingering feeling of wrongness that left a sour taste in his mouth.

The book, while old and fragile, was a surprisingly good read. Not at all like the stuffy tomes he’d read earlier. It told of a scientist, who had been experimenting with something he called “the Arch”, but Danny didn’t put too much stock in that wording, who knew what was left of that arch now, probably nothing more than a pile of rocks. It did have merit, though. That something like that existed. The scientist had experimented with rocks, food, crystals and even beetles of the sort, nothing ever came back, but they didn’t come back out the other side either. Which was at least something?

Danny was very surprised when a house elf popped in to ask if he was coming down to the Great Hall for dinner, or if it was to be brought to his rooms. He told them he wanted to eat with everybody else and gave it a polite thank you when they left.

It was a short walk from his quarters to the Hall, que shortcuts and phasing through walls, but it gave Danny some time to clear his head about a few things.

The future didn’t seem as bleak tonight, as it had this morning. With his new discovery, that information could be found elsewhere, if you knew where to look, and said information is useful. He also calmed his nerves about Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They were smart enough to realise that House prejudice wasn’t going to help win a war, and they would surely make the right choice. Okay, maybe he was projecting his hopes a little, but he knew each of them had a good heart, and he knew that Ron had gotten his message the day before.

As he stepped into the Great Hall, a few students greeted him, while he walked to the staff table. Severus was already there, discussing something with Albus, and Minerva gave him a small nod as he took his seat next to the Potions Master.

He purposefully hadn’t looked at Gryffindor table, as he wanted the trio to know that he wasn’t pushing them and that their decision was theirs to make.

“I haven’t seen you all day, how did it go?” Severus asked as he leaned towards him.

“It was a success, they didn’t have all the books, so I’m going back in two days to pick up the other, but this one shows great promise. It really feels like this could be it,” he said happily as he took a bite out of his chicken. Danny shot a look at Severus and gave him a little nudge. “Don’t worry, I won’t go until I’ve said goodbye. Besides, I have a few pet projects here that I want to see finished first.”

Severus grumbled something but at least he wasn’t scowling anymore.

“About my pet projects, I have something that might interest you,” he whispered. “Harry and his friends are making a club to learn some real DADA, I looked at their list of spells and they’re really serious about this. I might have even convinced them to make it a schoolwide effort.”

Severus gave him a sideways glance, “A schoolwide effort, from Potter and his friends, how cute.”

“I mean it, they wanted to exclude Slytherin, but I think I talked them out of that.” Danny beamed proudly.

“And what do you want me to do with this information?” the other said.

“I know it’s only a matter of time before Dolores finds a way to make it illegal. You have some weight with her, if you convince her that whatever they’re doing is harmless, she’ll leave it alone.”

“So, you want me to save your arse when it all falls apart?” Severus recapped.

“No,” he stressed. “I want you to save their collective asses when it all falls apart,” Danny said with a slight grin on his face.

Severus looked incredibly conflicted for about three seconds before relenting to Danny’s puppy eyes. “Fine, but you’re going to help me grade papers for a week.” he murmured.

“Deal.”

 

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

 

Two days later he was back at Borgin and Burkes.

“Here you go young man, the book that you requested.” the old hag said as she handed him a bundled cloth, with the heavy weight of a book inside.

“Thank you very much, I needed this,” Danny answered as he laid down an extra sickle for her efforts.

“Oh, what a charmer, go quickly before I change my mind and keep you here.” the hag gave him a smile.

Danny laughed and tipped an invisible hat towards her as he stepped out of the door.

He wanted to get some supplies from the Apothecary and was entirely lost in thought when he bumped against someone else.

“Oh sorry, I wasn’t loo-” he trailed off as he saw a flash of platinum blond hair and felt a hand wrap tightly around his arm.

“Ah, we meet again, Fenton. What a surprise.” Lucius said as Danny struggled against his hold. “I have someone who’d like to meet you. _Stupefy_.”

 

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

 

His head was pounding when he woke up, and his breathing came with a laboured wheeze. He was leaning against something solid and cold, stone probably, while his head hung forwards at an awkward angle.

He tried to rub his eyes when he realised his hand didn’t want to go any further. The rattle confirmed it, he was in chains.

_Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit!_

Danny blinked and he looked around him. Indeed he was stuck in a tiny cell, no light anywhere but from the torch on the wall. A single door, heavy and made of the same dark grey stone. He glanced at himself. His hands and feet were chained, giving him about two feet of space from the wall, but there was also something around his chest. Another metal band tethered to the wall. _Fuck._

Struggling to find a weakness in the chains, he blinked at the sudden light when the door opened.

“Ah you’re awake.” a high cold voice said. “Welcome to my dungeons Mr. Fenton. My name is Lord Voldemort.”


	11. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *WARNING* 
> 
> There is torture in this chapter, so if that's not your cup of tea, then I'll include a brief summary at the end. I'm so sorry about the angst. I really didn't know this was going to be this angsty when I first started with this.

Chapter 10:

Danny wouldn’t lie to himself. Voldemort was scary.

You would think that Danny would be used to all kinds of monsters after all these years. And that was true. He had faced dangerous foes, enemies with deadly weaponry, horrific creatures with too many teeth, but that’s what they were. Monsters, ghosts. A few humans too, but they all had relations to ghosts. And that was his playing field, as a halfa himself.

Right now, the sheer humanness of the monster before him threw him off guard. There was no debating that most people would look at the bone-white skin, the skeletal fingers, and the ruby eyes, and think Voldemort a monster borne of nightmares. Yet to Danny, who had met real monsters of the undead kind, this horrid blend of monster and man gave him goosebumps. That a human, with no ghost envy or shit like that, could disfigure himself in such a way, was sickening.

Voldemort’s voice was high pitched and deadly, cutting through the haze of Danny’s mind. “Ah, you’re awake. Welcome to my dungeons Mr. Fenton. My name is Lord Voldemort.”

“You already seem to know mine, courtesy of Lucius?” he asked as he locked eyes with the man.

“It would seem that kidnapping and imprisonment have little effect on that mouth of yours,” Voldemort said with a sneer.

“You know, you’re not the first person to have told me that. Apparently, I’m a right pain in the ass.” Danny countered.

The Dark Lord conjured an ornate Slytherin green chair and said down with a twirl of his robes. “Oh? You’ve been imprisoned before? That’s piqued my interest, tell me more.”

Danny silently cursed his lack of brain-to-mouth filter and brooded for a second before shrugging his shoulders. “Why am I here?” he diverted the question.

“Hmm, not so keen to answer know, Mr. Fenton. But I would very much like to tell you why you’re here. You see, I wondered why Severus had taken an interest in you. A mere squib would never keep his attention for long, so there must have been a reason,” he drawled as he snapped his fingers and received a plate of tea. “Then Lucius found you in a rather unsavoury bookshop, looking for books that they don’t have at Hogwarts. That either means that it’s obscure, dark, or both. I must say, Mr. Fenton, dimension travelling seems like a very dry subject.”

‘Well, shit.’ Danny thought. That hit the nail right on the head.

“I don’t really care what you do in your free time Mr. Fenton, as long as it doesn’t interfere with what I do. Your close proximity to Severus has been a danger to his loyalty to me. As such, I removed you.”

“You’re going to kill me then?” Danny said with a questioning lilt.

“Oh no,” Voldemort smirked, which looked very wrong on his lipless face. “you are going to write a letter to Severus. Telling him that you found whatever you were looking for and that you’ve gone home.”

“No. If I write the letter there is no guarantee that you won’t kill me anyway.” Danny retorted sharply.

“Smart boy. But I expected this, I can forge the letter. We have your handwriting.” Here he waved around the latest potions test he had given Draco, with his own comments in the sidelines.

That was a move Danny hadn’t expected. “Why are you keeping me alive then?”

“You have absolutely no sense of self-preservation, do you? Alas, you make a good bargaining chip. If Severus steps out of line, we can always make him see sense if he doesn’t want to see you in pain.” Voldemort laughed. Cold, eerie, and gooseflesh-inducing.

“Let me give you a taste of real power. _Crucio_.”

Pain.

Pain like the Portal accident. His nerve endings on fire, blood boiling in his veins.

Screams ripping through his vocal cords, almost triggering his Wail.

Oxygen was fleeting, gone before he could truly breathe.

Sight, flickering in and out of focus, he was almost gone.

Stop.

“That was about 30 seconds. Think about your actions.” he stood up and left.

Danny shivered against the cold stone floor. He needed to get out, now. He wasn’t spending another minute around this lunatic if he could help it.

He tugged at the chains around his wrists, it was a solid cold iron. Danny remembered reading about the use of cold iron back in the times of King Arthur and Merlin. (Honestly, the only thing he did all day was reading.) Cold iron was one of the only things that could bind a sorcerers magic and was often used during the reign of King Uther to keep a witch or wizard bound until they burned at the stake. It was considered too cruel as modern means of imprisonment, as binding a person’s magic was said to be very painful. Voldemort, the paranoid bastard, must have taken it as a precaution to keep Danny where he was, even if he didn’t seem to have magic.

But Danny remembered the time he had taken the Infimap for a joy ride, with Sam and Tucker, and how Sam had been convicted a witch. She too was clapped in irons and tied to the pyre, and he was still able to phase her out of those.

He closed his eyes and turned his arms intangible. The chains fell to the wall with a hard clunk, but all Danny could do was sag forward in relief and rub at his irritated skin. He quickly himself completely intangible and sagged against the wall.

After a few minutes of just staying there and breathing deeply, he got to his feet and walked towards the bars of his cell. Feeling brave he turned his hand incorporeal and shoved them through the bars.

Or so he tried.

The tips of his fingers collided painfully against a solid wall, and he hissed in pain. After a few moments of massaging his hand he tried again, slower this time, palm splayed forward. It was as if there was a wall of invisible energy surrounding his cell. Danny pushed a little harder, but the forcefield didn’t budge.

He quickly tried all the other walls of his cell and found that they’d even proofed the damn ceiling with whatever it was that was keeping him there. Voldemort was sneakier or more paranoid than Danny had given him credit for.

Apparently, when Voldemort said he’d expected Danny to have powers of some sort, he wasn’t kidding.

Danny sat back down in a corner, no use wasting energy by pacing, and thought of any mention of these type of cells. Sometimes he wished he knew more about the Wizarding World. Sure, he knew a lot from the books he’d read, but those generally only covered the subjects he chose to read about. History, potions and all ways of wizarding travel. Yet he had no general knowledge, which was shitty.

He could feel the exhaustion of the last day set in, as his eyes started to droop. Not wanting to wake up with a crick in his neck, Danny settled himself on the floor and folded his arms together as a makeshift pillow.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

He woke up as a loud clattering rang through the small space. He sat up immediately and noticed the small plate of bread and a cup of water in the centre of the room. Hungry as a horse, he stuffed the bread in his pie hole and began munching away. It took a full minute for him to realise that there was a small note next to the plate.

Danny audibly swallowed the last piece of bread. The taste of it turned ashen in his mouth. His throat suddenly dry, he sipped a bit of the water. It tasted clean. Though that didn’t mean a thing, he knew of very strong potions that would be undetectable. He could almost smack himself for eating the bread in one go, he didn’t know when the next meal would be.

When Danny blinked again, the room had tilted on its axis. A loud buzzing in his ear and general nausea told him enough. The potion hadn’t been in the water but in the bread. And he had consumed everything in one go. Shit.

He violently heaved to get it out of his system, but he was too late and slipped into the dark unconsciousness.

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

It was an indiscernible amount of time later when he woke up to a softly whispered spell.

“ _Crucio_.”

Again the pain flowed through him, somehow even worse than before. When it ended, it left him gasping for breath. He glanced up and saw Voldemort’s face twisted into a cruel smile.

“Awake again, I see. Good of you to join us in the land of the living.”

Danny kept his mouth in check and bit his cheek to stop himself from blowing his cover. “Was there something you wanted?” he asked instead.

Voldemort twirled his wand dangerously, “You will address me with respect, boy.”

Danny couldn’t help it this time, it just spilt out. “My lord, you mean? Are you even a proper lord? Or did you self appoint your title, because trust me that’s not how it works.” he said maybe a little too cockily.

“You know the Cruciatus isn’t the only torture curse I know. There are many other ways to hurt you, but I prefer the Cruciatus because next to no visible damage, frequent exposure also has the tendency to make you go insane.” The tone he used was almost conversational. Slightly amused too.

"Yet the worst kind of pain is the one where you can't do anything about it. We're going away for a couple of days, but first I'm giving you a little gift.”

With a lazy flick of his wand, Danny jerked forward and was holding his left arm through the bars of the cell. Something that Danny hastily catalogued for later.

“ _Morsmordre_.”

With a sickening sizzle, the skin of Danny’s arm turned a putrid black. He screamed as his arm felt like it was dipped in lava. A dark writhing snake coming out of the mouth of a skull stood branded on his skin. Voldemort smiled a dark, evil smile, while Danny cried out as the Mark started burning more fiercely than before. He was starting to black out again when he heard a last whispered word.

“ _Imperio._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short summary for those who want it.
> 
> Danny is captured by Voldemort, can't escape from his cell, branded with the Dark Mark, and put under the Imperius curse.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

There was something very wrong with the heady feeling of bliss inside Danny’s mind. It was like an overwhelmingly warm blanket, that instead of comforting seemed to be smothering. He tried to shake it off, but the feeling stayed.

_Rise._

A voice commanded. Slowly as soon as his legs had involuntarily got up, a slow trickle of information gathered in the back of his mind — a conversation he had with Albus in the first week of his stay.

The Headmaster wanted Danny to be as integrated into the magical community, as much as possible, to keep down that he wasn’t from this dimension at all. So, he’d taken it upon himself to teach Danny some fundamental pieces of Wizarding knowledge. Including some of the most important spells.

The Imperius curse was one of the Unforgivables. A spell that took your will away.

With what could only be described as a mental hiss, Danny recoiled from the oppressing mist. Something inside of him, the ghost, or the imprint of Death, whatever it was that he had in this universe wanted to tear through the warm feeling and rip it to bloody pieces. It fought against the mental chains, as that is what they were, and snapped at it with razor teeth.

“Aren’t you a docile little pet. I think I’ll keep you, and I needed a servant to grovel at my feet anyway. Come on then; I don’t have all day.” Voldemort spoke as he turned around and deactivated the wards surrounding Danny’s little prison.

The command sung through Danny’s bones and made him fall in step behind the monster.

Fuck, he hated this. Not being in control of his own body, it was like being possessed by Freakshow all over again. And this time, with no Sam to snap him out of it.

It only took a second more for him to realise something. Under his possession by Freakshow, he hadn’t been able to think. Sure, he saw flashes here and there of what happened, faces too, but he couldn’t think. The only thing that mattered was the commands that Freakshow had given him. That was the only thing is the red tinted world that he understood.

But he could still think, now. He was aware that he hated it. He could benefit from this very thought. Even if his legs still moved, and his body still didn’t obey him, at least he could think, with a small part of his mind. Maybe he could use that.

He knew, from some elaboration from Severus, that the Imperius curse wasn’t infallible. People had been known to disobey a command or snap out of it when something too outrageous was being asked of the subject. Voldemort couldn’t just order him to kill somebody, as that would be too against Danny’s nature. The Dark Lord had to build it up. Starting small with little commands like _rise_ or _come along_.

So, Danny concluded within the small part of his mind was still his own; he had time.

 

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

 

Three days. Three days it took for Severus to receive the letter.

It was short, saddingly so, but proper, and highly impersonal.

_Dear Severus Snape._  
_I hope this letter finds you soon. I have found what I was looking for. I’m going home. My apologies for not coming to say goodbye in person, but the matter was time bound. I know you’ll understand._

_Your colleague, Daniel Fenton._

Severus needed to read the letter twice before he understood what it said.

Daniel had left.

It hurt. It truly did. Somewhere deep in the cold pit that Daniel had wormed his way into, it ached — being left behind. Again.

He had of course known, that Daniel would leave one day. He just hadn’t expected it to be so soon. He had only really known that man for half a year or so. And a good portion of that he hadn’t even liked him.

And then there was the letter. The infuriating piece of paper that he wanted to set fire to with an _incendio_ or keep safe with an _impervious_ charm. But there was something, about that letter. Something off that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. That could also be his hurt feelings talking, though. It was a little rushed, but it did include the familiar scrawl of Danny’s horrible handwriting, but then again it was so cold. Your colleague, it had said. What, he wasn’t even worth the courtesy of the word, friend?

It was all so empty. And he hated it.

He stuffed it away in the pocket of his robes, as he made his way up to the Headmaster’s office. He needed to inform Albus of the situation.

The three-day wait had been horrible, too. When Daniel hadn’t returned from his little errand to Knockturn, Severus’ first instinct was to go after him or try to find him. When he’d gone to Albus, the old man had waved away most of his concerns, reminding him that Danny was probably on to something, and wouldn’t want to be disturbed.

Severus had begrudgingly agreed, that yes that might be possible, but as one evening turned into a day, and a day turned into two, and then three, his stress level shot through the roof. The brat hadn’t been home for three days, leaving a single question eating away at his brain. Where was Daniel?

The first day he’d taken Daniel classes back was an unpleasant experience for everybody. Daniel had been right of course, when he’d said that the younger years were more at ease with him. Severus had no patience for the blubbering idiots and had quickly lost his temper when a second year Hufflepuff gave the wrong answer three times in a row.

It was easy to see that nobody was happy with this arrangement.

The walk to Albus’ office, was long and tense. Inside of his robe, he clenched a hand around the little piece of paper.

“Chocolate Frogs.” he snapped at the statue, who moved aside with its usual ear-splitting noise.

He didn’t bother knocking; the wards had informed Albus of his presence anyway.

“Ah, Severus, wonderful to see you. What is the matter?” he changed tone halfway as he saw the thunderous look the Potion Master’s face.

“This.” he slammed the paper on the desk with enough force to send a few other pieces of parchment fluttering to the floor.

Albus unfolded the message, and read it with haste. “That is most unfortunate. I had hoped to enjoy his company for the rest of the year.” the Headmaster said with a slight frown. “I do wish him well, where-ever he is now.”

Severus sighed as he lowered himself in a chair. “Do you feel like there’s anything wrong with the letter?”

“Other than that it’s a little short, and doesn’t sound much like young Daniel at all. No.” he admitted as he looked over his half-moon glasses. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t find out. Although, I must say, at first glance, it has no remarkable signs that anything is wrong.”

“Thank you, Albus. It means a great deal to me.” Severus said with a small smile of gratitude.

“I’ll keep you updated,” Albus said as a way to end the topic.

“Of course.” he stood from his chair and made his way to his potions lab. He needed to do something to take his mind of things.”

 

.o0o.o0o.o0o.

 

“Boy. Serve me my wine.” Lord Voldemort snapped to someone to his left.

A pale hand with a pitcher of wine came out of the darkness. “Of course, Master.”

“My Lord, if I may be so bold, who is that?” a voice piped up from the table. Her insane eyes and messy hair gave her away as Bellatrix Lestrange.

“Good of you to ask Bella, well done.” he waited as Bella tittered at the compliment. “Boy. The lady asked you a question. Answer her.”

Danny stepped out into the light, dark robes billowing ever so slightly on his thin frame. He looked sickly thin as a stick, and just a tad too dreamy. “I was the pet of Albus Dumbledore, my lady. Then, Master came and saved me from him. I serve my Master now.” he made a slight bow, as he stepped back into the darkness.

“I have been good to you, haven’t I, dear.” Voldemort cooed as he laid a possessive hand on Danny’s wrist.

“Too good, Master.” Danny murmured sweetly as he poured a little more wine in the gaudy goblet.

“Such a faithful servant. Go draw me a bath for later.” the order not lost on anybody at the table.

“Yes, Master.” and with a bow, he was gone.

The door closed behind him with a click, and immediately Danny’s dreamy expression morphed into one of utter hatred. He still couldn’t do anything as his legs carried him upstairs, to the master bathroom. Still couldn’t fight off the curse completely, as his hand worked on their own accord, checking the water temperature.

Each and every day, Danny could feel more and more of his mind returning and giving him more freedom to think of a plan to get out of there.

A soft gasp from the doorway was the only reason Danny even looked at down at the bath again. The water, too hot apparently, had burned the better part of his hand.

“What are you doing, you silly boy? Do you want to anger the Dark Lord?” a feminine voice said as she pulled his hand out of the water.

“Master told me always to check the temperature. It’s too hot.” his voice said, distant and automatic.

“He didn’t tell you not to hurt yourself?” she asked him, muttering a few spells, while the boils on his hand receded. “Of course, he didn’t. You’re thin as a rail.”

The door to the bathroom opened again. “Narcissa. What is the meaning of this?” Voldemort demanded from the doorway.

“I was checking the temperature of your bath, Master. It was too hot; it burned my hand. The lady healed me for you.” with a gesture that could have been seen as an act of devotion he stood in front of the Dark Lord, but out the corner of his eye, he could see that Narcissa had noticed his move. He now completely blocked her from the Dark Lord’s direct range.

Voldemort was oblivious to the charades and clucked with his tongue. “You need to be more observant, my little one. You need to take better care for yourself,” he said as he stroked a single spidery finger across Danny's cheek.

“You may go, Narcissa.” he waved her away with nary a thought. “You can stand behind the screen, my servant. You can lay out my night clothes for me.”

“Yes, Master.”

In a startling moment of clarity, Danny realised what the Dark Lord had done.

He’d told Danny to take care of himself.

With a slightly wicked smile, Danny stepped behind the privacy screen.

He _would._


End file.
